Familiarity Ends Contempt
by Discordia19
Summary: How would Naruto's life be different if one of his main supporters was replaced with one more...unexpected? AU fic from the get go.
1. First Meetings

A/N: After watching the scenes between Killer Bi and the Hachibi, I wondered what Naruto would be like if he'd had a similar relationship with the fox, as well as what would happen if a major player in his life wasn't around. If you can't tell by the opening paragraphs, this is an AU fic. And if you can't tell by my name not being Masashi Kishimoto, I don't own Naruto.

Enough of my rambling, on with the show.

* * *

Chapter One: First Meetings

Uzumaki Naruto woke up in a hospital bed to the sight of the Hokage and three ANBU guards. It was raining outside, which felt appropriate to Naruto. He certainly felt like the world deserved to shed a few tears. The old man smiled at Naruto, before turning to the ANBU guards. "Would you leave us alone for a few minutes? I believe the boy has a few questions that deserve answering." He said, waiting for the guards to vanish from sight. "How are you feeling, Naruto?" He asked gently.

"Lousy." Naruto said, looking at the calendar on the wall. "Three days? What happened?! Last thing I remember, I was in the forest with Iruka-sensei and…" Naruto's gaze hardened in disgust. "Mizuki." He looked up with a worried look at the Third Hokage. "Did that bastard get away with the scroll?"

The old man sighed heavily. He really was too old to still be in power and deal with so much hardship. _Minato. If only things had been different. _"You don't remember." He said. It was not a question.

"What happened, old man? After Iruka-sensei died…" Naruto started before a sob escaped him. "…I can only remember this red haze."

"Yes. Well. I can't really say what happened, since we have no witnesses, but you don't have to worry about the scroll. That was recovered by the ANBU that found you. You don't have to worry about Mizuki, either." The Third said. _Those that have been torn apart to that degree don't usually cause problems_. He did not feel the need to add. Tenzo had been the man on the scene, which was fortunate, since he was the only one that had the abilities necessary to subdue the Fox's chakra, and he had reported what he'd seen with much reluctance. The sight of a twelve year old covered in blood and sobbing had a sobering effect, even on a hardened member of the ANBU. Sarutobi still shuddered at the implications of Yamato's story. "Now then, unless you have some questions, I think I'll leave you to get some more rest."

Naruto stared at his hands. "Did I miss Iruka's funeral?" He asked quietly, his tone breaking the old man's heart.

"No, it's scheduled for tomorrow at midday. If you're feeling well enough, I'll arrange for you to go." He said, putting a hand on Naruto's shoulder.

"Thank you, old man. I…have one more question for you, if you have the time." Naruto said even more softly.

"Yes? What is it, Naruto?" The Third asked, bracing himself.

Naruto paused, wondering if he really wanted to ask what he was thinking. He shook his head slowly. "Never mind. Thank you for your visit, Hokage-sama." He said.

The Third Hokage stared for a second before rising. He had a feeling he knew what Naruto wanted to talk about, but he wouldn't push it until the boy was ready. "Not at all, Naruto. I'll be by tomorrow afternoon to check on you and take you to the funeral, if you're up for it." He said before leaving the room. As soon as the door closed, he turned to one of his ANBU guards. "Tenzo. I want you to watch over him. I'm sure a few villagers are going to suspect he didn't beat Mizuki on his own, and they'll want to deal with what they perceive as a problem right now, before it gets too dangerous. And…keep your eyes open for what we discussed earlier."

The masked man bowed quickly before entering the room silently and unseen by Naruto, who was lost in thought. Tenzo took up a position in the ceiling, where he would be invisible to his charge but able to keep watch easily.

_Hey, Kid._ A voice said in the back of Naruto's mind. _Let's talk._

Naruto sighed and lay back down, closing his eyes and entering his mind to talk with the tenant he'd never known about until three days before.

* * *

As he had three days before, when he met the demon sealed inside him, Naruto couldn't help but look around him in awe tinged with disgust. A few of the villagers may have told him he had a trashy mind, but a sewer was a bit ridiculous. He'd have to try to change the mental image that his brain presented to something more pleasurable.

_That'd be a start, I suppose._ The ancient demon in the cage before him said with a sneer. _But I'd rather you just let me out. Then I could have the real world instead of some pretty picture._

Naruto frowned. "I told you before, Kyuubi-sama. I have no intention of undoing the seal."

The Kyuubi grunted in annoyance before smiling widely. _I see you've decided to show me some respect, brat. I'm not sure if I like it more than your earlier arrogance, but it certainly can't hurt. Maybe I won't devour you when I finally escape from here after all._

Naruto smiled as well. "I'm glad to hear it, but I don't think you'll be able to escape. The Yondaime was considered the greatest seal master of all time, after all. If he's the one that put you here then I'd say we're stuck together. Permanently."

The fox grunted again. _The only thing that's permanent in this world is _me_, little mortal. But in the meantime, I think you're right. I can't get out unless you let me out. So like I said earlier, let's talk._

"Ok, let's talk. What happened three days ago after we met?" Naruto said, crossing his arms and sitting down.

_Iruka was dead, the shuriken that had been intended for Naruto embedded in his back. Killed almost instantly by the blow, to Mizuki's amusement. "Too soft from all those years of teaching!" He'd shouted with a laugh. Naruto had decided at that moment to end Mizuki. In his rage, he'd forgotten all about the technique he'd just spent the whole day mastering, and could only think about the demon Mizuki claimed Naruto to be._

'_If I could only use some of _that_ power.' Naruto had thought, only to hear an ancient chuckle in the back of his mind._

That could be arranged._ The voice of Kyuubi no Kitsune had rasped, and Naruto had found himself before the Fox. _Undo this seal for me, Kid, and I'll take your vengeance for you.

"_I don't think so. If I'm hearing you right, you're trapped inside me, and I'm going to hold you tight. It's what the Yondaime would have wanted. Iruka too." Naruto had said, looking down as he thought of his fallen sensei._

_The Kyuubi had roared, first in rage, then with laughter. _Such arrogance from such a small mortal! To think that a shrimp like you could contain me! The eternal Kyuubi no Kitsune! _The fox's voice turned thoughtful. _Although I'd accept nothing less from the one to be my host. Tell you what, kid. You promise to talk with me later on, and I'll lend you a bit of my power. Deal?

_Naruto nodded grimly as one of the Fox's nine tails enveloped him. Back on the outside, Mizuki was backing away in terror from the now glowing boy. Naruto's eyes had turned red and slitted, and his body was enveloped in a Fox-shaped shroud of chakra. The shroud burned his skin, but the power it offered was a fair exchange in Naruto's rage filled mind. All he could focus on was tearing Mizuki apart. Red chakra arms extended off of him and grasped the rogue Chunin, holding him still as Naruto began to stalk towards him, flexing his clawed fingers menacingly. "For Iruka." He said simply, driving his hand into Mizuki's leg. It was to be the first strike of many that night._

_Mizuki's screams had attracted the attention of Tenzo, who arrived in time to find Naruto wrapped in red chakra, staring at Iruka's body and sobbing. The many pieces of Mizuki told a story of their own, but Tenzo shot into action immediately upon recognizing the feeling of the chakra. He had been out of the village on a mission during the original attack, but that level of malice didn't just dissipate without leaving a stink behind, and since it was Tenzo who had helped with the majority of the repairs, he had come to recognize it well. He had been unable to even attempt to control the Kyuubi twelve years ago, but he would make up for that now by calming the container before anybody else could see him in this state._

Naruto stirred in his mindscape as the "memory" ended. "I see." He said simply, causing the fox to grin.

_Yep. You really surprised me with your vengeance taking, kid. I was almost impressed. _The fox turned serious. _Now then, about our living arrangements._

Naruto looked at the fox with a confused expression. "Eh? What're you talking about?" He looked around again and frowned. "I told you, I'll work on fixing this place up."

_Not that, you simpleton. I'm talking about your body, your lifestyle! I am sick of tasting nothing but ramen! I'm sick of being cooped up in this tiny little shell you call a body! Eat something healthy, train harder, and grow up! Now that you're aware of me, I'll be able to help._

Naruto frowned deeper. "No more ramen…but I guess you're right. I am hurting myself by not eating anything more nutritious. As for growing up…I think I did a good deal of _that_ three days ago."

The fox chuckled. _Maybe you did. Now shut up, and I'll explain some of the benefits of being my host. Other than the enhanced speed, strength, and regeneration, you also get some other perks._

Naruto's expression lightened as he moved closer to the bars to hear better. "Oh? Like what?" He asked excitedly.

The Fox lunged forward suddenly, its claws colliding with the bars, stopping inches from Naruto's face. Naruto jumped backwards and glared at the fox. _Heh. Just reminding you not to relax around me. I'm not your pet, kid. I'm the prisoner, you're the guard. If I could kill you and escape, I would. _The fox sighed, its breath musty and smelling of death. _But, since it looks like I can't, I'll just go on helping you for now. One of the perks I mentioned is the ability to transform your appearance._

"Any ninja can do that!" Naruto shouted. "It's no big deal at all. I was hoping for something cool."

The fox growled at him. _Idiot, I'm not talking about one of those shitty illusions you "ninja" use all the time that can be taken off by a strong wind. I'm talking about you actually changing. For example, that jutsu you invented._

Naruto cocked his head to the side. "The Oiroke no Jutsu?"

_Damned if I know what you call it. The point is you aren't just looking like a girl. You become a girl. That's only possible because of me and my chakra. That's what I meant about me helping you grow up. Turn yourself taller if you want to. Bulk up easily. It's all within the scope of my power. Just remember that it requires active concentration to turn on or off._

"That's awesome! No more being the shortest in my class!" Naruto narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "What do you want out of all this? Seems like you're being awfully giving."

_I told you already. I'm fixing some problems with our living conditions. And in return, I want you to agree to something. Once a month, I want you to let me out for some fun. _Naruto opened his mouth to protest. _Calm down, I won't hurt your precious village. They deserve my full wrath, not just a fraction of my power channeled through your little body. I'm just talking about a run through the forests, and if we're in enemy territory, you let me do a bit of the combat, slake some bloodlust. Deal?_

Naruto thought about it, and then grinned at the fox, which did the same. "Deal, Kyuubi-sama."

* * *

Naruto awoke at daybreak the next morning, walking slowly to the bathroom. He clenched his fist slightly to test his strength, and noticed he felt back to perfect health. Nothing new there, he'd always healed quickly, and now he knew why. As he stood in front of the large mirror in the bathroom, he made the hand seal he always used when transforming, concentrating on a taller version of himself. There was a cloud of smoke, a soft noise, and then Naruto gasped at what he saw. He'd been short for thirteen, scrawny too. In fact, he was the shortest member of his class, a fact that always bothered him and earned him teasing from the likes of Kiba. Standing in the mirror, however, was like looking at what an older brother of Naruto's might have looked. He was about a head taller, and his body was taut with muscle, no longer frail or childish looking. Naruto spent a good five minutes examining the changes in him, touching his new body more than once to make sure it was real and not just an illusion. He was so excited at his new appearance; he'd almost forgotten what day it was.

_Oh, right._ He thought sadly as the realization slammed home. _Iruka-sensei is being buried today. I'll need something better to wear than a hospital gown or a torn up orange jumpsuit. _With that in mind, he altered his appearance a bit more, covering up the whisker marks and darkening his hair to a sandier blonde. He dug through the pockets of his jumpsuit and found his large wallet, stuffed as always with Ryo notes. Since nobody in town would sell anything to him, he had more than enough money to spend on a suit. He only hoped he could get one made in time for the funeral. He pulled on his now too small jumpsuit and walked out of the room to go see a tailor.

Tenzo had dozed off for a few minutes, awakening to find his charge missing from his bed. He could see the bathroom light was on, and decided to sneak a peak in to see if the boy was feeling alright. His shock at seeing Naruto a head taller and in peak condition made him betray his movement, lapsing in stealth for an instant. The Hokage would need to hear about this, quickly.

* * *

The tailor had glared at him suspiciously when he'd first walked in. The orange jumpsuit was notorious in the village, and made Naruto immediately identifiable. It was for this reason, of course, that Naruto had started wearing it in the first place. It was hard to ignore a fluorescent orange, no matter how much one strived to not notice the village pariah. And being noticed was very important to Naruto. It had in fact, inspired his dream of being Hokage. In any case, a quick explanation and a display of his Ryo notes had changed the tailor's tune. Since it was still early morning, the man had no customers other than Naruto, and was able to make a simple suit to match Naruto's new measurements within an hour. Naruto also purchased a few other clothing items to fit his new height, since he intended to remain this way for some time. However, his somber mood and new knowledge of what he was prevented him from buying anything vibrant or orange, so he opted instead for a few pairs of black or gray pants and some blue t shirts. Thanking the tailor for his time, he returned to the hospital to wait for the Hokage.

He didn't have to wait long, as the old man arrived in a hurry to confirm what Tenzo had reported. Naruto decided to play innocent for the moment, since he wasn't sure how the Third would feel about him talking to his tenant, acting just as confused as the old man.

_Obviously the Kyuubi exerting influence on the boy has hastened his growth somewhat. _Tenzo had said, and the Hokage was inclined to agree. He hadn't expected _this _drastic a change however. It was…somewhat unnerving how different Naruto appeared. "So…you just woke up like this?"

"That's right." Naruto said, putting on a façade of worry. He had become a pretty decent actor over his years of pretending to be carefree. "Do you think it has to do with the fox?" He asked, earning a look of shock from the Hokage.

"Naruto…who told you about that?" The old man demanded, leaning forward with a stern look.

"It was Mizuki. He told me all about how I'm the nine-tailed fox, and you passed a law that said anybody who said anything was punishable by death." Naruto said softly, no longer needing to _act_ somber.

The Hokage sighed, wishing he had thought to bring his pipe. The sweetened tobacco would have taken a bit of the edge off. "Figures that bastard would say that to you. Naruto, you aren't the nine-tails. You're its jailor. When the Yondaime Hokage couldn't kill the Kyuubi, he had to seal it away. He chose you, because y…" _ou're his son. _Sarutobi almost said, before stopping himself. It wouldn't do to overload the boy with that just yet. "You had just been born, and were therefore the only candidate who could have dealt with the Kyuubi's immense chakra. You're a hero, Naruto. At least, that's how the Yondaime _wanted _you to be seen. Instead, the villagers have treated you with distaste and hostility." Sarutobi sighed again. "I probably should have told you that before, but I wanted to wait until you'd become a ninja, like you'd dreamed about." The Hokage smirked slightly as an idea came to him. "And I suppose I did as I planned."

Naruto looked up, his eyes wide with confusion and a hint of excitement. "Old man?" He asked, hoping against hope that he knew what the Hokage was about to say.

"After all, beating a Chunin in hand to hand combat is no small accomplishment for somebody your age. Yes, I think you're qualified enough to become a Genin of the Leaf." Sarutobi said with a smile. "After the funeral, we'll get you a hitai-ite. We've held off the team formations in light of Iruka's death, so you aren't even behind." Sarutobi looked over his shoulder and nodded as Tenzo appeared in a Shunshin. "I do have one condition though. In addition to your Jonin instructor, I want you to train with this man. He'll be able to get you a little more up to snuff in some of the areas you're lacking, since I'm willing to bet Mizuki sabotaged your education in some areas. His name is Yamato." At the mention of the codename Tenzo removed his ANBU mask and smiled at the newly minted shinobi, though Naruto was currently incapable of seeing him clearly.

Naruto had tears in his eyes for the second time that week, though unlike with Iruka, these were tears of joy. He was finally a leaf shinobi! "T-thank you, Hokage-sama." He said softly, wiping his eyes and sniffling. He turned to Tenzo and bowed. "I look forward to training with you, Yamato-Sensei."

Tenzo smiled again. "I'm looking forward to training you, Naruto. It'll be a nice break from being an ANBU full time. Though…not to spoil your mood, but you have other business to attend to today." He said, his smile fading along with Naruto's as they both prepared mentally for the funeral to come.

* * *

Every shinobi with children in the village, and even a few of the civilians who had children in the academy, turned out for Iruka's funeral. Likewise, a great deal of the Chunin and Jonin of the village showed up, for Iruka was well liked by all of his comrades. He had been very popular among parent and student alike, and everyone had been sad to hear of his passing. One by one, those present had set a flower on the marker for the fallen instructor, until finally Naruto had walked up at the very end, crouching before the marker and crying silently to himself. "Well, Iruka-sensei, I guess this is goodbye. I'm sorry I wasn't strong enough to take care of myself. I'm sorry I let you down. But I'm a Genin now, just like I promised you I'd be. And it may seem foolish to make you another promise so soon after fulfilling my other one, but I'm going to do it anyway. I promise that I'll never be so weak that a friend of mine has to sacrifice their life to save mine. I'll become strong enough to protect everybody, so nobody else has to die like you do." Naruto turned towards the staring faces of the mourners and cocked a thumb at himself. "Did you hear that? The stupid little kid prankster is out of the picture! From now on, I'm going to give it my all to be the best shinobi this village has ever seen! It's what Iruka-sensei would have wanted!" Ignoring the glares from most of the onlookers, Naruto walked past them all towards the Hokage tower. He had a hitai-ite to pick up.

* * *

"Uzumaki Naruto, do you accept the duties of a shinobi to Konohagakure?" Sarutobi asked, his voice thick with emotion and tradition.

"I do, Hokage-sama." Naruto said with conviction. The happiness he'd felt upon hearing the news had been replaced with a sense of iron duty to Iruka's memory. He would not let him down again. "If by sacrificing my life, I can protect this village, than I will do so in a heartbeat."

The Hokage frowned a little at that, but nodded all the same and handed Naruto a Leaf-nin's Hitai-ite. Naruto put it on with a stern expression and bowed low to the Third Hokage.

_Hey, brat. You don't seriously expect me to just let you die to save this shithole, do you? _The Kyuubi suddenly bellowed out.

_Of course not, Kyuubi-sama. In fact, I highly doubt anything will come along that could even threaten you, but I don't want to arouse suspicion. I doubt the old man would like us talking._

The Kyuubi snorted in amusement, looking around Naruto's new inner world. True to his word, Naruto had changed the scenery from the dank sewer to a lush forest, similar to the ones outside of Konoha. It was no comparison to freedom, but the fox was still appreciative. _That's what I like to hear, Kid._ He said simply, going to sleep inside a den at the bottom of a tree. Instead of the large cage, the symbol of its imprisonment had become a tag on its ear. The Kyuubi rather enjoyed the difference.

"Uzumaki Naruto, I now pronounce you a Genin of Konohagakure. May you protect it for the rest of your days." Sarutobi finished the traditional speech. "Report to the lecture hall of the academy tomorrow to receive your team assignment."

"Yes, Hokage-sama." Naruto said, bowing. "When do I begin training with Yamato-sensei?"

"Yamato will contact you when he's ready to train you. For the time being, rest up for tomorrow. It's going to be quite a day."

* * *

Endnote: The first two chapters of this story were written back to back over spring break, which is now over for me. That said, I'll try and keep my updates regular, maybe once a week, once a fortnight minimum. A few notes on the story: One, I'm sure I've angered a lot of people by killing Iruka. I decided to do that for many reasons, not the least of which was to figure out a way to get Naruto angry enough in his early years to talk to the Kyuubi, which the rest of the story hinges on. Two, I'll do my best to avoid having Naruto turn into a combat God, but with him talking to the Kyuubi on such respectful terms, as well as getting trained by Yamato, that may be a bit inevitable. I promise you it'll fit in with the story, and there'll still be plenty of challenges for Naruto. Finally, not to be a review hound, but I'd really appreciate some feedback on this little project of mine. Like I said, I'll try and update regularly, since I hate waiting a year for a new chapter as much as anybody else. That said, you can't force the muse to give you gold, but you can bribe the whore by telling her she's beautiful and her ideas are brilliant. Just some food for thought.


	2. Meet the Team

A/N: As I said in the last chapter, you shouldn't get used to me uploading two chapters at a time, since from this point on, I'm writing it as you're reading it. Anyways, you know the drill. Naruto isn't mine, and I talk too much. On with the show!

* * *

Chapter Two: Meet the Team

Naruto walked into the lecture hall with a serious expression, deciding to show all his former classmates that the wise-cracking simpleton had grown up since graduation day. While his stupider self would have bellowed something about how great he was for graduating, his sterner new self knew that boasting got people killed. He moved down the rows, ignoring the stares his new height and build received, though he did smile a bit at the whispers about his new clothes. The blue shirt and black pants were a lot more welcome than the bright orange jumpsuit. Naruto sat down next to Shikamaru without a word, knowing the boy would only talk if he felt like it anyway.

"You graduated somehow, I see." Apparently he felt like talking. "Got taller too. Apparently being in the hospital is good for your health."

Naruto grinned a little, rubbing the back of his head. "Shikamaru, you just made a joke. I'd have thought that was too troublesome for you."

"He does raise an excellent point, though." Aburame Shino said quietly, adjusting his sunglasses.

"Yeah, how the hell did a dumbass like you graduate?" Inazuka Kiba demanded, the dog on his head barking in…agreement?

Naruto looked over his shoulder at the two Genin and shrugged. "I'm guessing the story of what happened in the forest got out, right?" The two shinobi nodded, and a third to Naruto's right perked up as he grew interested. "Well, it impressed the Hokage, so he made me a shinobi. Also-" He started before being cut off by a loud yell in front of him.

"Naruto, give me your seat!" Haruno Sakura shouted, sticking her finger in his face. "I want to sit next to Sasuke-kun!"

Naruto glanced to his right, just noticing the boy he'd considered rival until the triviality of such a thing was taught to him out in the woods four days ago. Uchiha Sasuke was sighing in exasperation. He'd been wondering how Naruto, the dead-last, had managed to beat Mizuki and Sakura had just spoiled the reveal. _Just one more reason not to talk to her._ Sasuke thought, staring forward with just the right amount of disinterest.

"Alright, Sakura-chan, there's no need to deafen the whole classroom." Naruto said, moving back a row quickly. He nodded at Shino and Kiba, then looked to his left and smiled at Hyuuga Hinata, who turned bright red at the sudden attention. Naruto stared at her for a second before shaking his head and turning towards the front of the room. A man with sunglasses as opaque as Shino's had walked in with a manila folder in his hands.

"Good morning, graduates. My name is Ebisu, and Hokage-sama requested I read the team assignments, since you've all been waiting to meet your Jonin instructors in the aftermath of Iruka's tragic death. Once I call out your team, you're welcome to break for lunch, but be back within an hour." The man said, pulling out the first of many sheets of paper and beginning to read off the teams. "The first team is…oh Kami; I pulled them in the wrong order. Oh well, it's not like it matters…Team 10 will be Akimichi Chouji, Nara Shikamaru, and Yamanaka Ino."

"How troublesome." Shikamaru said, frowning and rubbing his temple for the headache he knew he'd have by the end of the day.

"Oh well, at least we're on the same team, right?" Chouji said, shoveling a handful of chips into his mouth. "And besides, he called us first, which means we get the longest lunch!"

"Damnit! I wanted to be on Sasuke's team!" Ino shouted. "Instead I get saddled with that lazy bastard Shikamaru!"

Ebisu cleared his throat. "Yes, well. Try to retain your composure." He pulled out the next sheet. "Since Team 9 is still in circulation, the next team, Team 8, will be…Aburame Shino, Hyuuga Hinata, and Inazuka Kiba."

"Yeah! Me'n Akamaru are gonna kick ass!" Kiba shouted for no apparent reason. Perhaps the seriousness of the room had been getting to him.

"Hmm…a reconnaissance team?" Shino murmured to himself.

_I'm…not on Naruto-kun's team. _Hinata thought sadly, casting one last look at the boy, who noticed her staring and turned to look at her with a puzzled expression. She quickly turned away and left to join her team.

Ebisu's eyebrow twitched slightly as they left. Hadn't he just mentioned maintaining composure? Shaking his head, he pulled out the next sheet, eyes narrowing at the last name of the squad. _The Fox brat? Hmph…rewarded for beating a weakling like Mizuki. Orders are orders, however._ Ebisu thought with a sigh. "Team 7 will be Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke, and…Uzumaki Naruto." He said, saying the name quickly so as to not let its taste sting his mouth.

Naruto noticed, but didn't care. The three rose and walked out of the room, two of them silently. Sakura was trying to talk to Sasuke excitedly, and Sasuke was ignoring her as best he could. Naruto was already examining his team mentally. _Sakura is the smartest kunoichi in the class, even if her crush on Sasuke is…annoying to say the least._ She'd deafened the class again when she'd heard her team assignment. _I'll probably have to cover for her at first, but she'll be great once she figures out what a shinobi's life is really like._

At the same time as Naruto, Sasuke had been examining the team as well. _Sakura…why did it have to be Sakura? She's one of the worst fan girls I have. Oh well, it beats Ino._ He thought with a small shudder. _She's probably useless, but we'll see how a few months of experience change her._

Both boys turned to look at each other at the exact same moment, identical expressions of thoughtfulness on their faces, though Sasuke's turned to shock as he realized Naruto was thinking along the same lines as him. _Sasuke's arrogant, but he's strong enough to take care of himself. And training against him will be a great way to get strong quickly._

_I can't believe that dead-last was actually thinking. What the hell happened to him after Iruka died?_ Sasuke thought, staring at Naruto, just now noticing he wasn't bright orange anymore, and that he'd gotten taller and more fit. _Sometimes acting disinterested has its drawbacks. He probably mentioned it back in the classroom. In any case, if he was able to beat Mizuki, then he won't hold me back too badly. And it'll be nice to have a training dummy that actually moves._

With that, the newly minted Team 7 went to lunch, Sasuke going off alone as he always did to pretend to be a jerkass so no one would bother him. Sakura followed him for a bit before he gave her the slip. Naruto climbed up into a tree to eat a cup of ramen. Sure, he'd promised the fox he'd stop, but it was the only thing he'd had in the house. He'd be sure to go shopping later on in the day in the disguise he'd used on the tailor. _Actually,_ he thought, _nobody this morning seemed to recognize me. Sure, I'm taller and I'm wearing some different clothes, but I still look basically the same. I wonder why they didn't all glare at me like they usually do?_

_Probably because you weren't bellowing at everybody who passed you that you were going to run this place one day. _ The Kyuubi opined blandly, rousing itself from a nap under a tree in Naruto's subconscious. _Your team should be…entertaining_. It said with a hint of mirth. Its mood had greatly improved since Naruto had given it a dreamscape to run around in. _Not that either one of them deserves to be on the same team as the container of the great Kyuubi no Kitsune, but I suppose they'll make effective meat shields once you start living dangerously._ It grinned inside Naruto's mind. _And beating the hell out of that brooding brat should be a good stress reliever for you. _Its smile widened, turning slightly lecherous. _And you got put on the same team as that woman you love so much. _That _will be a good stress reliever for you._

Naruto sighed and entered his dreamscape, appearing high above the Kyuubi in a tree branch. _For an old demon, you're awfully perverted, Kyuubi-sama. I think they'll both make fine teammates. And if I beat the hell out of Sasuke daily, I'll get stronger in no time._

The Kyuubi laughed loudly, shrinking in size and jumping up to the branch to sit next to Naruto. _You keep on my good side, brat, and you'll get stronger than training with any kid will get you. _

Naruto chuckled, summoning a dead rabbit. He'd discovered that anything he thought of while in his mind became real, which was how he'd designed the forest they were now conversing in. He gave the rabbit to the fox, which nodded in appreciation as it tore it apart. _Consider that me trying for your good side. I'm going to go talk to my team. Anything else you want before I go? _The fox chuckled and scratched at its tagged ear. Naruto laughed at that, shaking his head as always. _I didn't think so. We'll talk later, Kyuubi-sama._

Naruto looked around the area he was in, looking for either Sakura or Sasuke. Only about thirty minutes had passed since they'd gone to lunch, so he had plenty of time to talk to them. He found Sakura first and dropped out of the tree to talk to her. "Sakura!" He shouted, doing a passable impression of Sasuke. She whirled around, eyes wide with hope before glaring.

"Oh, Naruto, it's you." She said with distaste, not even trying to hide her displeasure at talking to him instead of her Sasuke. "What do you want?"

Naruto narrowed his eyes a little, dropping his smile. "I wondered what you thought of our team." He said softly, already knowing the answer. _Should have just gone to talk to Sasuke._ He thought.

"Well, Sasuke and I are going to be awesome, unless _you _hold us back." She said, turning her face up into a smug expression and crossing her arms. "But I suppose if we manage to drag you into competence we'll get a medal. Try to keep up, won't you?"

Naruto frowned, getting angry. Inside his head, the Kyuubi was howling with laughter. _Oh, I like her!_ It shouted when it finished. _But are you just going to let this airheaded brat talk to you like that?_ It demanded, its tone turning sinister. "That's funny, Sakura. I was going to tell you the same thing." Ignoring her shocked expression, he took a step toward her, his expression turning fierce. "And if you let your stupid little crush on Sasuke interfere with us being top notch shinobi, I'll make you regret it." He walked past her, his "public" smile returning. The one that looked carefree but meant he wasn't. "I'm going to go talk to our _other_ teammate now." He said, walking off into the woods, leaving a stunned Sakura standing there near tears.

Sasuke had only been a few feet away, about to move when he saw Sakura coming. Then Naruto had intercepted her, so he'd stuck around to listen to their conversation. As much as he'd enjoyed hearing Naruto tell the fan girl off, it only raised more questions about Naruto's sudden change in personality. _He's suddenly more mature, both mentally and physically. He's gotten over his crush on Sakura, _(a crush that was almost as annoying as hers to him, in Sasuke's opinion)_ and he's actually trying to get information from people instead of just stubbornly making up his own mind. _Sasuke had to wonder again just what the hell had happened out in the woods. He decided to ask Naruto himself, moving off a little further in the woods so Sakura wouldn't hear them talking. Naruto tracked him easily, his hearing able to pick up the slightest of noises lately. And his nose, while not as good as an Inazuka, was more than capable of picking up Sasuke's general location. The Kyuubi had done wonders for his senses, and at the low, low cost of being ostracized from everyone. Naruto wondered briefly if it was worth it.

"Hey, Dead-Last, I want to talk to you." Sasuke said as Naruto entered the clearing he was standing in.

"What a coincidence, bastard. I want to talk to you, too." Naruto said, falling back into his normal nickname for Sasuke without noticing it. He winced a bit then coughed. "I wondered what you thought about our team."

Sasuke snorted in answer to that. "Forget that, I have something important to talk to you about. Tell me what happened the night Iruka died." He demanded, crossing his arms and leaning against the tree behind him.

Naruto narrowed his eyes. "None of your concern. I can tell you're wondering why I'm so serious all of a sudden, but that's my business, not yours." Naruto cocked his head to the side in thought, and then shrugged. "Though it's probably similar to why you went from a laughing little kid to the arrogant prick you pretend to be today."

Sasuke paled as Naruto's meaning came to him. He'd known that Naruto had been there when Iruka had died, that much had made it to the rumor mill, but he hadn't known the specifics. He still didn't, but he could guess what kind of trauma Naruto had gone through. He shook his head slightly. "Ok, that explains that well enough for my purposes." He glanced skyward. "Let's get back to the lecture hall. We wouldn't want to be late to meet our sensei."

* * *

_Wouldn't want to be late to meet our sensei, alright!_ Sasuke thought, doing his best to present the same bored façade as always despite his growing fury. Every other team had already gone, and Team 7 had been left alone for the past two hours. Sakura had spent the first fifteen minutes trying to talk to Sasuke once more, but his brilliant strategy of ignoring her had won out, and she'd turned introspective. She kept casting glances at Naruto, his words earlier weighing rather heavily on her.

The blonde himself was keeping occupied with push-ups in the corner. He'd do a set of fifty, wait five minutes, do another set of fifty, rinse, and repeat. After a half an hour of doing that, he'd apparently grown bored, so he was now adding a textbook to the stack on his back every five minutes. For his own part, Naruto was keeping calm. If their sensei was late, it meant he was busy doing something important, not out of spite. Suddenly, his ear twitched as he heard footsteps approaching and he straightened himself quickly, catching the books before they fell to the floor. Sakura and Sasuke stared at him like he was crazy for a few seconds before the door opened and a lazy looking man Naruto had never seen before walked in. The bottom half of his face was covered with a black mask and one of his eyes was covered by his hitai-ite. The only visible part of his face was a single eye that looked like staying open was too much to ask of it.

"Yo." He said flatly, his eye still looking dead.

"You're late!" Sakura shouted, pointing at him.

"And you're obviously a genius." The man said before jerking his head over his shoulder. "Follow me." He said, his three students doing so, Sakura with her head hung low. A minute or so later, they found themselves on the roof of the Academy, sitting next to each other across from their new sensei. "Now then, I'd like for each of you to go around and introduce yourself. Likes, dislikes, hobbies, dreams, that sort of thing."

"Why don't you go first, sensei? Show us how it's done." Sakura said timidly. The day had been going horribly for her so far.

The man shrugged and nodded. "Sure. I'm Hatake Kakashi. I have lots of things I like, and a few things I dislike. I'm not the sort of person that likes to talk about my hobbies, and my dreams are none of your business. Now then, how about we start with the blonde at the end?"

_Heh, all he told us was his name._ Naruto said before nodding. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto. I like training, the village, and loyalty. I _hate_ traitors, and people that don't pull their own weight. My hobbies are training and walking around Konoha. My dream is to be an excellent shinobi of the Leaf, and maybe one day I'll become Hokage." Naruto nodded again, finished with his declaration. Feeling strange, he looked to his left at Sakura and Sasuke, who were staring at him as if he was a stranger.

_Maybe one day become Hokage? I thought that was the only thing he thought about?_ They thought in unison. Sasuke coughed slightly before beginning, resuming his signature "brood" pose. "Uchiha Sasuke. I dislike lots of things, which isn't saying much, since there isn't much I like. My hobby is training. My dream isn't a dream, it's a goal. I'll restore my clan and…kill a certain someone." He said, ignoring the gasp of awe from Sakura. Kakashi nodded at both of them before turning to Sakura.

"And the young lady?" He said, smiling through his mask.

Sakura shook her head before standing and bowing respectfully. "I'm Haruno Sakura. The thing I like isn't a thing, it's a person…a boy." She looked down at Sasuke and blushed. He ignored her as always, staring out at something off in the distance. Naruto was flexing his fingers, also not really listening. "I hate being ignored." She said, putting her hands on her hips. Sasuke kept ignoring her, now with a small smirk on his face. _So at least he's listening._ She thought, glancing at Naruto. Naruto was watching her with interest, his expression serious. "My hobbies are reading, and my dream is…" At that, she blushed again and sat down, Naruto sighing as she did so.

_Obviously it was too much to hope she'd grow up just from us talking earlier. Oh well, at least she's showing some nerve._ Naruto thought, turning to look at his sensei, who was smiling.

"Ok then. I think we all understand each other pretty well. Our first team project will be tomorrow. Survival training…against me. Training ground nineteen at seven a.m. sharp, and make sure you skip breakfast. Wouldn't want you to throw up out there." His smile widened. He always loved that line, more for the reactions of the Genin that he said it to than anything else. Sasuke grunted, Naruto chuckled, and Sakura paled at that, earning a small giggle from Kakashi. "See you tomorrow." He said, waving to them as they got up to leave.

* * *

The next morning at six, Naruto went to the Shinobi Memorial Stone to work out in front of Iruka's name. He'd decided that that would be the best way to show the man's spirit that he would honor his memory. However, when he arrived there, he was shocked to see his sensei staring at the stone intently, deep in thought. The man looked up in surprise when he saw Naruto. "Good morning, Naruto. What are you doing here?" He asked, genuinely curious.

"I came to show Iruka-sensei that I'm going to honor his sacrifice. They just added his name yesterday. Why are you here, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked, his tone serious and the mask of good humor lain aside.

Kakashi sighed. "I have quite a few comrades listed on this stone. I guess you could say that I'm here for a similar reason as you." He said simply, turning back to the stone.

Naruto nodded, understanding perfectly. There were obviously a great many layers to his new sensei. "Which ones are they?" He asked, moving closer to the stone.

Kakashi pointed out three names, Uchiha Obito, Rin, and Namikaze Minato. Naruto's eyes widened at the last name. "Did you know him?" He asked, pointing at the Yondaime's name.

"Yes. He was my teacher, just like I'm yours. The other two were my teammates. I'm the only member left of Team Minato. I wasn't strong enough to protect any of them, and that's why I'm here to show them I honor their sacrifices."

Naruto nodded again. He had a great deal more in common with his sensei than he'd thought earlier. After that, the two stood in silence for over an hour before Naruto glanced skyward. "We're late, sensei." He said softly. Kakashi didn't appear to have heard him though, so Naruto turned toward the man. He had his visible eye focused on the stone, reading and rereading each name on it multiple times over. Naruto nodded again, bowing before the stone and walking off. "Take your time, Kakashi-sensei." He almost whispered before going off to training ground nineteen.

When he got there, Sakura was pacing nervously while Sasuke sat, as always, in his signature "brood" pose. Naruto sat down without a word and began to lift himself off the ground with just his fingertips. Sakura turned toward him and stared for a few minutes before finally speaking. "You're late, Naruto." She said simply before shrugging. "Not that it matters. Kakashi-sensei is off doing Kami knows what while we wait for him."

Naruto frowned slightly, not sure what to say. His conversation with Kakashi had been something personal between the two of them. If Kakashi felt like sharing it with the other two, that was up to him. "I'm sure whatever he's doing is important." He said simply, returning to his exercise.

Two hours later, Kakashi appeared before them in a Shunshin. "You're late!" Sakura shouted for the second time in as many days. Kakashi, immediately agreeing with Sasuke's tactics, ignored her.

"Good morning, class." He said, pulling out a timer and setting it down on a stump. "This is set for noon. It's now a little after nine. That gives you about three hours to complete this assignment." Kakashi pulled out two small bells. "These…are bells. Your assignment is to steal one of them from me. Whoever doesn't get a bell gets tied to that stump and has to watch me eat their lunch. But, as you'll notice, there's only two, so one of you is definitely going hungry today. Oh, and a word of advice. If you don't come at me with the intent to kill, you'll never make it. Understand?" He asked, smiling widely at the expressions on his students' faces, his reasoning for them not eating breakfast becoming clear. When they all nodded, he cracked his knuckles. "Begin." He said, smiling again as they all vanished from sight. _Here we go._ He thought, looking around with interest. Sakura had deviated from Naruto and Sasuke, going off in the opposite direction. Naruto, for his part, was talking to Sasuke about a strategy. Kakashi's smile widened. He rather liked the little Jinchuuruki so far.

"Alright, Sasuke. If either one of us tries to take him on alone we'll just get wiped out, so this is obviously about teamwork. Let's make a plan."

Sasuke grunted, clearly not wanting to admit that Naruto was right. "Alright, what did you have in mind, dead-last?"

"Well, first of all, if we don't get to Sakura before Kakashi, she'll get taken out easily. I'll distract him, you go get her. She wouldn't listen to me anyway. Once you get to her, ask her to come up with something. We both know she's smarter than I am. I'll go without lunch; I'm trying to cut back on food anyway. You two get a bell, you two pass, and I'll deal with the consequences. Deal?" Naruto asked, not waiting for an answer as he dropped out into the open and forming some quick hand seals. _Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_. He thought as a dozen clones of him sprang into view. Kakashi whistled appreciatively as the small crowd stalked towards him.

"That's quite a lot of clones, Naruto." He said conversationally, palming the bells as he dropped into a stance and charged forward.

Naruto had never had the best taijutsu, since growing up he'd had nobody to spar with regularly. That was why lately, he'd been working on muscle mass and dexterity. If he couldn't land that many hits, he wanted the few he did land to mean something. As the first of his twelve clones was dissipated by Kakashi, he felt a peculiar sensation as he got a memory of the scene he'd just seen from a different vantage point. Realizing immediately what this meant, he incorporated the strike the clone had received into his style; blocking a similar strike the instant Kakashi tried it on the next clone. "Same trick doesn't work twice, Kakashi-sensei." The clone said, holding onto Kakashi's arm as the other clones rushed in. Kakashi smiled and vanished, sinking into the ground fluidly. Off to the side, one of Naruto's clones tripped, causing the others to jump and run over. The original hung back, ear twitching as he heard Sasuke and Sakura making their plan. "Heh. My job's done." He said, dispelling the jutsu. All the clones except the one who'd tripped vanished, shocking Naruto. The clone too, had his eyes wide.

"Oops." Kakashi said, dispelling the illusion and rushing Naruto, bells ringing as they bounced off each other at his waist. Kakashi was easily able to force Naruto back and on the defensive, too fast for Naruto to even attempt a counterattack.

_Little help here?_ Naruto asked the fox, who chuckled.

_Fine, but you owe me some exercise tomorrow night._ It said, a few hairs of one of its tails floating toward Naruto's perspective. Naruto immediately felt his strength increase, though not as sharply as that night with Mizuki. He began to swing at Kakashi, leading him toward the trees in a roundabout way so Kakashi wouldn't notice his intent. Taking one of Kakashi's strikes, Naruto reached toward the bells, fingers brushing them as Kakashi spun backwards to dodge. At that moment, Sakura threw a kunai at him, making him panic and fall without grace, an unorthodox dodge that left him at a disadvantage for a split second. In that split second Sasuke dove out of the trees and landed on Kakashi's shoulders hard, scooping up the two bells as fast as he could move before tossing one to Sakura and cracking a smile. Sakura shot a "V" for victory and hugged Sasuke, who immediately regretted listening to Naruto. Naruto was smiling as well, happy that the test was over.

Kakashi blinked a few times before bursting out laughing. "Impressive. You guys all pass."

* * *

Endnote: In all honesty, I wasn't sure if I should include the bell test in this chapter. It seemed kind of cheap to cram it in at the end of the chapter like that, but I wanted to give Yamato's time with Naruto in the next chapter the time I felt it deserved. In case you were confused by what Naruto did at the end of the test, I had him go into a lighter version of what the Naruto wiki calls the "initial Jinchuuruki form", namely, the form he uses against Haku after he thinks Sasuke's been killed. Just for the boost in speed which he'd need to take on Kakashi for even a minute. Now that that's out of the way, I'll say the usual spiel. Let me know what you thought, and I'll get the next chapter up as soon as I like it.


	3. Yamato and Tazuna

A/N: Holy hell, folks. The response to my two opening chapters has been brilliant. I know "9" isn't that an impressive number, but every time I get an email about people subscribing to the story, or marking it as a favorite, or writing a review, I end up writing for an hour, so keep that up if you like my speedy update time!

A point that **Seitora** brought up: Naruto's transformation into a taller, fit form isn't taking any chakra to maintain.

My reasoning behind it not being an issue is this: Tsunade constantly presents herself as a young woman, despite really being fifty years old. Not quite the same thing, but then, Naruto's a Jinchuuruki. With that said, I'll address it, I promise. As usual, I own nothing. On with the show!

* * *

Chapter 3: Yamato and Tazuna

Naruto stood on top of the Hokage monument, staring at the moon. There were few people even awake at this hour, and his heightened senses told him that there weren't any around to see what he was about to do. _Alright, Kyuubi-sama, here's your chance. Keep what I asked you in mind, yeah?_ Naruto said, entering his dreamscape. The fox was waiting for him, its nine tails swishing around it as it grinned. _Yeah, yeah, no destroying the village, and no carving up the monument. I told you; until you're stronger I'm not risking my death just to get some petty revenge. I'm just going to run through the trees, see how things look through your eyes. _The Kyuubi chuckled. _In fact, seeing things from your limited perspective may make me charitable enough to help you out more often._

Naruto smirked good-naturedly. Talking to the Kyuubi had taught Naruto to accept that insults against his human status would be a constant in their relationship. _One more thing, Kyuubi-sama, could you only play for an hour or so? We lowly mortals require sleep to function._

The Kyuubi grunted in acknowledgement before opening its eyes to the real world for the first time in thirteen years. Dropping Naruto's body to all fours, it sprang through the forest behind the monument, relishing the feeling of the wind on Naruto's face. As it made it further and further into the forest, it began to move in more complicated patterns, pushing Naruto's muscles and reflexes to their limits, so that by the end of the hour, they were burning for mercy. Hearing movement coming its way, it dropped down to the forest floor. _Hey, kid. Company's on its way. _The Kyuubi said, bitterly shifting control back to its host. Looking skyward in Naruto's dreamscape it sighed and nestled under its favorite tree. Much_ better than the sewer._ It thought before yawning and falling asleep.

Naruto sat heavily, panting from exhaustion. The fox had really gone through a workout with him, though Naruto was pleased with the way his body had moved. Unorthodox movement was part of what could loosely be called his fighting "style", so any new demonstration of the same pleased him.

The "company" the fox had spoken of was Tenzo. He had been following Naruto for the last mile or so, impressed by the boy's movements, though he thought Naruto's timing had been unfortunate. He had had to step up his speed to follow him, and that sacrificed his stealth somewhat. From the way Naruto had been glancing over his shoulder on occasion, scanning the woods behind him, he knew he'd been found out. The boy really was impressive. When he entered a clearing and found Naruto panting on the forest floor, he couldn't help but chuckle. "Hello, Naruto. I've been looking for you." He said, moving to sit next to the sweating youth.

"Good to see you, Yamato-sensei. Did you want to train?" Naruto asked once he'd caught his breath. When Tenzo offered him a bottle of water, the boy gulped it down greedily, happy for the refreshment.

"Not tonight, but tomorrow. But it looks like you wore yourself out before I got the chance."

Naruto waved his hand dismissively. "I'll be fine in the morning, don't you worry. One of the perks of being the host of the fox."

Tenzo nodded appreciatively. "Glad to hear it, Naruto. What time would be best for you tomorrow?"

Naruto frowned and rubbed his neck thoughtfully. "Well, my team has a mission in the morning, but knowing Kakashi-sensei, we won't even start on it till around noon. Since it's a D-rank, it won't take very long once we get going. Sometime in the evening would work out great, I suppose."

Tenzo nodded again, smirking a little at Naruto's summary of Kakashi's notorious tardiness. "Ok then. I'll be at your apartment tomorrow evening, and we'll start our training sessions. Any particular element you want to work on with our time together?"

"Taijutsu, definitely. It's easily my weakest area." Naruto smiled a little. "I guess you saw me going through the trees?" Tenzo nodded. "That's about my fighting style, too. Flail around, use the terrain, and try to land a hit. I'd love to have a bit more polish to it."

Yamato smiled as well, nodding. "I think I'll be able to come up with a regiment that'll help you out. We'll work on Chakra control too, since you have so much to work with. You may as well learn how to put it to good use." Naruto nodded at once, opening his mouth to speak before it devolved into a yawn. Tenzo laughed aloud at that and held up a hand. "Go home, get some rest, we'll talk again tomorrow evening." Naruto nodded again, getting up and heading back home.

* * *

Naruto and Tenzo walked through Konoha the next evening, talking about random things. How long Tenzo had been in ANBU, the bell test with Kakashi, what Naruto hoped for in the future. They made it to their destination, a training ground that was seldom used. "So how did your mission today go?" Tenzo asked, pulling out a sealing scroll that had a present for Naruto within it.

Naruto groaned. "I hate that damn cat." He said as he rubbed at the scratches he knew weren't on his face anymore. Tenzo laughed loudly at that.

"That cat has been making life difficult for Genin for almost as long as you've been alive." He unsealed the scroll, revealing an orange shirt and some leg and arm bands. "Here, Naruto, I got these for you specially."

Naruto looked at them quizzically, picking up one of the arm bands, grunting a little at the surprising weight. "What are they?" He asked, picking up the shirt with another grunt.

Tenzo smiled devilishly. "Weighted clothing. That's a little tip from the greatest taijutsu specialist in the village. You should be grateful I got a say in the design, _he_ wanted you to wear a green leotard."

Naruto paled a little at that. "Thank you, Yamato-sensei! Both for the clothes and…not making me wear a green leotard, I guess."

Tenzo waved his hand. "No matter what I put you through in our time together, Naruto, I'd never be _that _cruel." He stood up and walked towards a tall tree with all the lowest branches cut off. "You can put those on later. The I want you to do a little chakra control exercise. I want you to climb this tree," He said, walking up the side with a smile. "Without using your hands." He reached one of the higher branches and turned to chuckle at Naruto, who was staring at him dumbfounded. "It's both harder than it looks and deceptively simple. All you have to do is channel chakra into your feet and stick to the tree. It's a great trick for a shinobi, especially around here. In fact, I'm still confused as to why we don't teach it in the academy."

Naruto had stopped listening intently after the explanation of how it was done. He walked toward the tree and focused a little bit, pressing his foot experimentally to the bark. A footprint immediately pressed into the bark, caving the surface of the tree in slightly. "Hurm." Naruto muttered contemplatively.

"Too much!" Tenzo called down helpfully before climbing down the same way he'd gone up. "You keep working on that for the next few hours or so, I'm going to go get us something to eat. Trust me; you're going to need it by the time this night is over." Tenzo walked off, waving over his shoulder.

Naruto tried a few more times, each time cracking the tree with the excess chakra. _Kyuubi-sama, I don't suppose there's a way you could pull back some of your strength, is there? _He asked, seizing onto the problem at once.

The Kyuubi chuckled in his head. _Sorry, kid. I can pump more into you, but I can't pull any back. Look on the bright side though, you figured out a way to kick through a tree._

Naruto nodded appreciatively at that. He shook his head to refocus on the exercise, and closed his eyes. Thinking of the chakra he produced as a flame, he immediately pictured a roaring bonfire. He focused the chakra down to his feet and tried to reduce that flame to a candle. When he opened his eyes, he was halfway up the tree. "Ha!" He shouted, immediately falling off because of his lack of focus. The Kyuubi chuckled at his antics before going off to hunt some of the wildlife Naruto had introduced on their last excursion together. Naruto tried again, this time with his eyes open; merely replicating the feeling he'd had just a second ago. Unfortunately, he only made it a slight bit higher before losing his footing and falling again. He scowled in frustration, before shaking his head. Losing his concentration and complaining was what his old self would have done. Now, this was just a task he'd been ordered to accomplish, and accomplish it he would.

When Tenzo returned several hours later with a boxed meal, he was surprised to see Naruto had almost reached the branches. _He's progressing much faster than I'd have hoped. _Tenzo watched the blonde fall, pick himself up, breathe to calm himself, and then try again. _He's showing remarkable focus lately, considering what his Academy report had had to say about him._ Tenzo thought, wondering just how reliable that report was. "Naruto!" He called, stepping into the clearing to catch Naruto before he tried again. "Come on and eat something before you wear yourself out!"

Naruto sighed, shaking his head at the tree before walking up to his part-time teacher. "I feel like I'm really close to cracking it." He said, sitting down and eating the meal carefully to avoid throwing up. The box was full of protein and other vitamin-rich items, just the thing for a growing shinobi. Naruto finished the dinner with an appreciative whistle. "Do you want me to keep at it, Yamato-sensei?"

Tenzo scratched his chin thoughtfully before shaking his head. "I think that's enough for today. If I wear you out too much, Kakashi-sempai will be mad at me." He said, patting Naruto on the shoulder. "Good work today Naruto, keep practicing that, exercise with those clothes I got you, and I'll come find you when I get some free time in about a month." He struck himself in the forehead suddenly. "Oh yeah, one more thing." He said, pulling out another scroll. "This is another tip from that taijutsu master I told you about. I don't really want you running around Konoha five hundred times every morning, but the technique notes should be useful at least." He tossed Naruto the scroll and smiled at him. "See you next time, Naruto." He said, vanishing in a swirl of leaves.

Naruto sighed, pulling on the arm and leg bands, examining his new clothing more closely. As he looked at the shirt in particular, he felt touched that Yamato had picked an orange one. As little sense as it made for a shinobi to wear such visible clothing, he still had a soft spot for the color. It wouldn't do for wearing out in the field, but as a training shirt it was perfect. _And I could always wear it under a dark jacket, after all_. Naruto thought with smile. He started walking toward his apartment, the weights slowing his pace a bit.

* * *

The next morning, Naruto woke up with a start as a realization struck him. No wonder he couldn't use the tree-climbing technique right! Since his body wasn't naturally as tall as he'd made it by transforming, his chakra network must have been stretched out to compensate. He crossed his arms and frowned. While he did like being able to transform into peak physical condition, the inability to perform such an essential, to say nothing of simple, technique was too much of a drawback. He sighed, dispelling the illusion and reeling as his perspective shifted to factor in the decrease in height. He walked towards his mirror a little shakily, his balance thrown off as well. _This'll take a little getting used to._ He thought, cursing a bit at the inconvenience. He froze as he looked in the mirror, not so much in shock at what he saw, but at the new idea that occurred to him. _Damn it, everybody's going to notice I keep changing in appearance! That's going to raise a lot of uncomfortable questions, Kyuubi-sama._ He said, cursing again.

_Don't piss yourself just yet, kid. Why don't you see if changing back even affected your control of that foolishness?_ The Kyuubi said, mildly annoyed at being awoken, although it realized that Naruto had a point.

Naruto turned his head in agreement. That hadn't occurred to him to try. He exhaled slowly to focus and stuck his foot to the wall of his apartment, walking around the circumference instead of straight up. He didn't make it very far, and he estimated it was about the same distance he'd managed before. _I suppose changing back didn't help after all. I guess I'll be able to keep using the transformation as my "real" form. _Naruto thought, a little annoyed now that he thought about the consequences of transforming in the first place. Much as he appreciated the Kyuubi explaining the "perk", he was now trapped in a lie. He'd just have to wait a few years or so until his real body matched the illusion.

_If you start eating right like I told you to do a week ago, it might not even take that long. _The Kyuubi opined with a yawn.

_Your optimism is refreshing Kyuubi-sama._ Naruto thought with a bit of anger as he transformed back to his "fake" body. _Let's go mend a fence or something. _He thought with a bitter smirk as he went to meet with his team.

* * *

A few weeks passed, Naruto dividing his time between practicing the tree climbing technique, working out with his weighted clothing, and doing D-rank missions with his team. He had read through the taijutsu suggestions as well, and decided that while the sets of the exercises were ridiculously high, a scaled down version was well within his abilities to accomplish. The scroll had also suggested beginning at dawn each morning to "fully capture the Fires of Youth"…whatever the hell that meant. Naruto had only done it once, and that was enough for him. Meeting the taijutsu specialist and his young protégé had been a bit too bizarre, even for someone who regularly held conversations with an immortal demon. Naruto shuddered as he recalled the two calling each other's names as they cried "manly tears". _Yeah, once was definitely enough for me._ He thought, nearly finished with his 70th lap around the village. Thirty more and he'd go grab something to eat.

* * *

Later, after successfully catching Tora for what felt like the thirtieth time, Sasuke demanded a tougher mission from the Hokage. Kakashi sighed and tried to apologize, wanting to get back to reading his precious book, but Sakura piped in to agree. Naruto, for his own part, remained silent, though he had a hopeful look in his eyes.

"How exactly does weeding a garden and chasing that cat help build shinobi skills?" Sasuke asked, launching into a full scale rant, venting a lot of pent-up anger in the process.

The Hokage looked momentarily dumbfounded. If anything, he'd have expected such an outburst from Naruto, not the Uchiha genius. He glanced at the blonde in confusion, who cleared his throat before adding his two cents. "I don't mean to question your wisdom, Hokage-sama, but my teammate _does _have a point. Surely you can trust us with a C-rank?" Naruto asked, being as formal as possible to persuade the old man.

Sarutobi sighed. He'd been considering this for a few days, after hearing from Tenzo that it didn't appear the Kyuubi was breaking free of the seal. The ANBU had been shadowing Naruto constantly since Iruka's funeral, making sure that there wasn't a repeat of the night in the forest. In fact, the reason Sarutobi had asked him to train Naruto wasn't really to "fix the sabotage of Mizuki", but to allow Yamato to shadow the boy effectively. In the event that Naruto noticed his presence, he could reveal himself under the pretense that he wanted to teach the boy something. And although Tenzo was hesitant to admit it, Naruto had been very close to catching him more times than he felt comfortable with. _Well, it seems that it's safe for Naruto to leave the village without us worrying about his prisoner breaking free. And if his skills are really as well improved as Tenzo reports, then he and Kakashi should be able to keep his squad mates safe if anything too dangerous occurs. _He nodded with a smile. "Very well, I'll reward your enthusiasm, Sasuke. C-rank mission, escort a bridge builder named Tazuna to his home in the land of waves and ensure the completion of his latest project."

"What's the expected level of opposition?" Kakashi asked.

"Tazuna claims he's worried about bandit attacks. Nothing a squad of capable Genin and their Jonin instructor can't handle." He said with a smile.

Kakashi smirked as well. "Very well. Team 7 accepts the mission.

Sarutobi nodded towards an assistant. "Send him in, please."

One of the side doors opened and a surly looking man strode in. Naruto almost cringed with how badly the man stank of alcohol. "Oi, _that's _my protection?! They're a bunch of snot nosed kids! Especially the disrespectful brat with the chip on his shoulder." Tazuna said, belching as he took another swig of booze.

Sasuke grit his teeth and seemed to vanish, appearing next to the man with a kunai in his hand. "Rest assured, Tazuna, we're more capable than we look."

Kakashi sighed heavily. "Sasuke, it really isn't wise to threaten the man you're hired to protect." The bridge builder was sweating slightly as the raven haired Uchiha grunted and returned his kunai to its holster. "Alright team, go gather enough supplies for an extended mission. We'll meet at the gates in an hour."

Naruto had grabbed his supplies quickly, wanting to talk something over with his teammates before they left. He managed to catch both of them before they made it to the gates and took them aside. "I don't like this."

Sasuke snorted with laughter. "Don't tell me you're chickening out, dobe."

Naruto narrowed his eyes. "Says the person who just put the fear of Kami into a man he was ordered to protect. Shut up and listen for a second Sasuke."

Sakura hit him on the head, though not as hard as she used to. "Don't be so disrespectful, Naruto! It isn't his fault for getting mad at that arrogant drunk."

Naruto rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Ok, so you're still doing that. You shut up and listen for a second too then. Why is this mission taking place?"

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Weren't you listening to Hokage-sama? Tazuna is afraid he'll get attacked by bandits on his way back to Wave country."

Naruto raised his finger at that. "Ah, but that's just it. If he hadn't come here to hire us, he wouldn't have to worry about bandits. And how many bandits do you know that attack a man building a bridge? Do most construction crews carry a lot of ryo on them? Something's up with this, I'm telling you."

Sasuke and Sakura both exchanged a glance. They were equal parts impressed at Naruto's reasoning and confused for the hundredth time about when he'd gotten so intelligent. Truth be told, he'd always been analytical. It was hard to prank Jonin without being able to pick apart their schedules, favorite haunts, etc. He'd just never applied that to his studies or his personal dealings with people. After all, everybody loved a buffoon. Or so he'd thought anyway. "Should we tell Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked timidly, suddenly a little afraid.

Sasuke grunted in frustration. "Damnit Naruto, this is our first mission out of the village! Do you really want to throw that away? It can't be anything too bad; this is only a C-rank. Besides, between you, me, and Kakashi we're more than capable of handling anything."

Naruto shook his head. "I'm not saying we abandon our mission. The Hokage ordered it, we accepted. I'm just saying we should be on our guard for anything unusual." _Wait a minute. Did Sasuke just include _me_ in a positive assessment of our team skills? That's…interesting._ Naruto thought, adjusting his pack slightly.

That decided, they made their way to the gates, where Kakashi and Tazuna were waiting. After a quick check of their gear they started their journey to the Land of Wave.

* * *

Endnote: Whew that was a lot of stuff to get through. I hope you liked this chapter as much as I do, but I think the next one's going to be even more fun to write. A Kyuubi…maybe not friendly, but cooperative, with Naruto against the Demon Brothers? Like I said, it's gonna be fun.

Now then: before somebody asks in a review why the stoic Sasuke was the one to flip out and demand a harder mission, here's the method to my madness: Sasuke has emotions like everybody else, he just doesn't act on them. Well, unless those emotions are anger and maniacal laughter apparently. (I'm really not a fan of where the manga has been going lately) Anyway, I figured that he just vented his frustrations through watching Naruto complain about things. Since Naruto hasn't been complaining about the D-ranks the whole time, Sasuke's been trying to act the stoic, but it's been building up. After having to chase Tora for the umpteenth time, he decided to rage for a while. (By the way, how great an idea was Tora? I love that cat.)

And the bit at the end where Naruto tries to figure out the real story was written as I was thinking about it. It really doesn't make any sense for them to have accepted Tazuna's story, since he wasn't drawn with any kind of lumber or anything, so it was obvious that Tazuna had traveled to Konoha just to ask Konoha to help him travel back to Wave. And I'll admit, I don't remember if the "ensure completion" part was in canon, since it's been months since I read anything from Part 1, but bandits attacking a construction crew doesn't make much sense either. Anyways, see you in a week or so, or maybe even less time, if I keep staying up till 3:30 to finish a chapter. Let me know if you thought it was worth going without sleep!


	4. Oni vs Kitsune

A/N: I've said it before, I'll say it again, Holy. Hell. Folks. My inbox has practically exploded from all the site alerts about this story, just in the past two days. I must be doing something right. Enough gushing from me, let's talk business. As you can now see on my profile, my plans for this are for it to go to at least to the Search for Tsunade arc, but I could easily be persuaded to keep going. I'll try to keep the updates as rapid as they've been so far. Also, in case you didn't notice, you can track my status on this story via Twitter. My Twitter name is my Author name, so go to town on that. Or don't. Before I start the show, just a heads up: there'll be a bit of a difference in a key part of the canon arc here, mostly because I think this makes way more sense. You'll see what I mean. Anyways, that's enough of my rambling. As always, it's a lamentable fact that I own nothing. On with the show.

* * *

Chapter 4: Oni vs. Kitsune

After what Naruto had brought up, Sakura was unusually jumpy. Kakashi noticed, but decided it was probably just that it was her first time out of the village. Hardly surprising and nowhere near as interesting as what the busty inn owner was going to do with the weary merchant in the chapter Kakashi was reading. He giggled slightly, turning the page carefully. In his youth, he had been a tad overzealous with a copy of Icha Icha and torn one of its sacred pages.

Naruto was also on high alert, keeping an eye, ear, and nose out for danger. While he hadn't convinced himself that Tazuna was lying to them, he wouldn't take chances with his teammate's lives.

The Kyuubi rolled its eyes. _You act as if I wouldn't warn you if danger was approaching._

_To be fair, Kyuubi-sama, your definition and a human's definition of "dangerous" are leagues apart. Unlike you, we have to worry about, say, getting stabbed in the back._

The Kyuubi chuckled. _Ah, yes. I somehow always forget how frail mortals are._

Naruto smirked. Banter with the fox had become his primary source for amusement after he'd sworn off performing pranks. _I've noticed that for an eternal demon with a supposed perfect memory, you always need reminding when it comes to that subject._

The Kyuubi grinned, tails swishing around it. _If there wasn't such a huge list of things that could kill you weaklings I'd be able to remember them all. It seems like your kind is constantly thinking up more pathetic ways to die._

Naruto was about to respond with a jab about senility when the breeze shifted and he caught a scent. A familiar one too, after the night in the forest with Iruka. _Blood._ _A few kilometers ahead._ _Could be nothing, but then again…_ He thought, moving closer to Kakashi. "Kakashi-sensei…" He began, only to be cut off by the masked Shinobi.

"I know. Two of them." He said in a low voice, turning the page again.

_If it's only two, then they aren't bandits._ Naruto thought, frowning a bit. _I couldn't tell the number from the smell. I should talk to Kiba when we get back about training my nose. _"What are we going to do?" He asked, mimicking his sensei's pitch.

"We'll let them attack to see who their target is. They'll probably come at me first, regardless. After they "get" me, if they run, we know they're just after the bounty on my head. If they head for Tazuna…" He trailed off.

"Then the bastard lied to us." Naruto finished, gritting his teeth. Kakashi raised an eyebrow, but merely nodded in reply. They kept walking on, Kakashi trailing back a bit so their would-be ambushers would be able to get at him immediately. Naruto inhaled again, clenching his teeth. Just a few more meters and they'd be upon them.

_Hey, kid, remember our deal. _The fox said, tails swishing once more, this time in excitement rather than amusement. _It's been a month since I got to play, and here we are in enemy territory._

_Apologies, Kyuubi-sama, but I'd rather my teammates didn't see what I am just yet._

The Kyuubi growled. _We made an arrangement, brat._

Naruto mentally sighed. _Do you suppose you could take control without it being apparent?_

The Kyuubi grinned, leaping to the top of a tree in Naruto's imagination. _If it means I get to play a bit, then I'll agree. Let's trade up; you're almost on top of them._

_Alright, but stick to Kakashi-sensei's plan, yeah? _Naruto said, laying down in a hollow of a tree in his dreamscape. _And don't let anything happen to my teammates, Kyuubi-sama. _The Kyuubi tsked but nodded. Satisfied, Naruto "fell asleep", signifying he was giving up control.

Back in the real world, the Kyuubi cracked Naruto's knuckles casually, disguising the action as a relief from boredom. It wouldn't do to frighten off its prey before it got its chance for fun. Not after all the haggling it had taken for the brat to hand over the reins. With a quick glance around to see if anyone was watching, the Kyuubi extended Naruto's nails into claws. As much fun as pummeling the two would-be attackers to death would be, the Kyuubi loved tearing things apart a great deal more. It wished it could form a cloak of chakra like it had with Mizuki, but knew that such a thing would only cause difficulties for its host, and therefore, the Kyuubi itself. _Oh well, it'll be more…personal this way. _The Kyuubi thought, barely able to contain a chuckle as it passed what appeared to be a simple puddle. It really had been too long since it had had a chance to play.

Kakashi glanced at the puddle as he passed it. _That's…a pretty obvious genjutsu. If my students were a little more experienced, even they would have seen through it. _He kept his eyes forward, inwardly rolling his eyes at the stupidity of their attackers. _I mean, honestly! A puddle would have been acceptable if it had rained recently, or if we were closer to water, but just sitting out in the open for no reason? Ridiculous._ Kakashi mused, wishing they'd hurry up and attack so he could figure out their intentions. His wish was granted a few moments later, as the puddle rose up and turned into two shinobi standing back to back.

The one furthest back used a Shunshin, reappearing in front of Kakashi. Kakashi looked down and noticed he was wrapped in a thick chain made of shuriken.

"One down." The two attackers said in unison, pulling the chain tight, ripping Kakashi to shreds as they chuckled.

The two Genin and the bridge builder recoiled in shock at the sudden attack, to say nothing of the death of their sensei. The Kyuubi, on the other hand, was amused. The pair's brutality had certainly been entertaining, even if it wasn't real. It cracked Naruto's knuckles again, flexing his hands to bear the claws as the pair of assassins raced towards it.

"Two down." They said, bringing their metallic claws toward Naruto's face.

The Kyuubi couldn't resist. Who knew when the next chance to amuse itself would be? It ducked the strike and laughed. "You're right about that." It said, Naruto's normal voice replaced with a more bestial sounding rasp. Naruto's hands shot forward, gripping the chain that connected the two. The fox could have ended the fight in one blow apiece, but it was trying to prolong its entertainment. It swung the two towards a nearby tree with a grin, chuckling at the sound they made when they collided, both wrapping around the tree before crashing into each other.

Sasuke, Sakura, and Tazuna were staring in amazement at the blonde haired Genin. _When did he get so strong?_ Sasuke wondered angrily. _He _was the avenger! It was _his _lot in life to become strong. He would have to step up his training regiment, maybe even stoop to training with his teammates to increase his growth. He was snapped out of his reverie when the two attackers disconnected from their chain, one going at Naruto again, the other speeding towards…Tazuna? Sasuke had time to smirk that Naruto had been right before he and Sakura moved to guard the man, Sasuke forming hand seals as fast as he could. He sucked in a breath, holding his right hand in front of his mouth. _Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!_ He thought, a large ball of fire meeting his charging opponent halfway. The smell of burnt flesh filled the air, the gasmask wearing ninja falling to the ground and struggling to breathe.

The other shinobi, noticing his brother's defeat, tried to get past the Kyuubi to go get revenge. Smirking, the Kyuubi extended Naruto's arm, channeling the tiniest fraction of its chakra towards the man. Unfortunately for him, even a tiny arm made of demonic chakra was powerful enough to drag him back to the fox. The Kyuubi plunged Naruto's hand into the man's chest, sighing mentally in satisfaction. _Ah, that was the most fun I've had in almost thirteen years. Well, I guess it's over now. I'm going to take a nap._ The Kyuubi thought, exchanging places with Naruto, who jerked his arm back in disgust. The Kyuubi had shifted control without removing Naruto's hand from the dead body of the man. The fox laughed uproariously in Naruto's head, in a great mood for the first time in ages. He turned towards his team in concern, though neither had gotten hurt. The bridge builder looked both terrified and extremely relieved. The burned man on the ground struggled a bit more before falling silent. Sasuke was staring at his handiwork with a mixture of disgust and fascination. Sakura was alternating between him and Naruto, trying to figure out how she'd gotten to be on a team with two members that could fight to the death without showing any fear.

"What about Kakashi-sensei?" She asked, turning back to where his "body" had been and gasping at seeing only random pieces of wood. She rubbed her forehead in exasperation. "Kawarimi. Of course."

The man in question stepped out of the forest with a serious look in his only visible eye. "You three did very well. Sorry if I worried you, but I was curious as to who it was those two were after."

Naruto's eyes hardened. "That's right. Just why the hell did you lie to us, Tazuna?" He demanded, glaring at the drunken bridge builder.

The man's eyes widened for a second, before his expression hardened. He launched into what seemed to be a well-practiced speech, telling a tale of woe about the poor land he came from and their inability to pay for a pricier mission. He then complained about the oppression of Gatō, the secret criminal who posed as a shipping magnate while he squeezed the life out of Wave. Team 7 listened, feeling for the man and his village's plight.

"Be that as it may, you shouldn't have lied about the mission parameters. My team is ill-prepared to fight trained shinobi. As their sensei, it is within my rights to cancel your contract. You are, of course, entitled to a full refund of your money. Come on, Team. We're returning to the village." Kakashi said, sounding like he felt terrible about the decision.

Tazuna nodded grimly. "Yes, I suppose it's none of your concern. Never mind my poor grandson. The boy has been depressed a lot lately, and I'm sure this will only drive him closer to the brink. And of course there's my daughter, who will probably declare revenge on your whole village."

Kakashi stared at the man forlornly, then at his team. Sasuke appeared indifferent; until you noticed the glare he was giving Kakashi. Sakura was openly weeping, and Naruto looked uncomfortable. Kakashi sighed. "Very well. It looks like my team would go rogue to help you, so I might as well tag along so they don't get hurt." Sasuke smirked while Sakura celebrated. Naruto merely nodded, though he was pleased they would be helping the man out. Kakashi shouldered his pack again. "Let's get moving again."

* * *

The team walked on for a few hours in silence, eventually crossing a large lake by boat. After walking a bit more, they heard a low rustling in the brush next to them. Sakura jerked unexpectedly, readying a kunai to lob in the direction of the noise. Naruto put a hand on her shoulder, pointing at his nose. "Don't bother. Just a rabbit." He said calmly. He walked over to prove his point, holding up the snow white hare. Kakashi stared at it for a few seconds, seemingly deep in thought.

Suddenly, Naruto tensed as the fox roared in his mind. _Down, brat!_ Naruto dropped, repeating the fox's warning (in more polite terms) to the rest of his squad. The group ducked low, Naruto gritting his teeth at the sound of a large object whistling through the wind. The object in question was a ridiculously large sword that embedded itself in a nearby tree, a bandaged man in camouflage pants standing on the long handle.

"The Demon Brothers lost to a bunch of children?" The man asked, his frown apparent despite the bandages covering his face. His eyes widened as he saw Kakashi. "Ah, the famous Copy Cat. _That _explains it."

"Momochi Zabuza, the Demon of the Mist." Kakashi said, dropping into a stance. "What's a failed revolutionary like you doing in Wave?" He asked, his hand ready to remove his hitai-ite if necessary.

Zabuza glowered for a bit. "I'm here to finish the job the Demon Brothers failed. Taking over a country costs money, you know." Zabuza dropped down, grabbing his sword and wrenching it from the thick tree without visible effort as he landed. "Let's see you try and stop me."

Kakashi glared, grabbing his headband. "You three protect Tazuna. This guy is way more of a challenge then those two you beat earlier." He pulled the headband up, revealing his Sharingan. "I'll deal with the "Demon"."

Zabuza laughed. "Unveiling the Sharingan right off the bat? I'm deeply honored, Copy Cat."

Kakashi chuckled without warmth. "Remember the feeling, Zabuza." He said, eyeing the man as Zabuza leapt to the nearby water, making a hand sign.

"Let's see how your thousand parroted jutsu compare to the ultimate ninja art, the Kirigakure no jutsu." He said, a thick mist coming off of him as he spoke. The mist obscured the vision of the entire team, causing them all to look wildly around. The four non-Jonins' eyes widened as Zabuza's disembodied voice filled the air around them. "There are eight targets. Kidney, Heart, Throat, Spinal Column, Liver, Lungs, The Jugular Vein, The Subclavian Artery. I wonder which one I'll choose."

Sasuke was shaking in terror at the massive amount of killing intent in the air around them. _So this is what it feels like for an elite ninja to be focused on killing you._

"Sasuke! Calm down!" Naruto hissed, senses trained on finding their opponent. His teammates both reeked of fear. "Kakashi-sensei won't let anything happen to us."

Kakashi nodded with a smile. "That's right. I'll never let my comrades die."

"Guess again." Zabuza said, preparing to appear between the Genin and their charge. Naruto heard him and spun, a kunai appearing in his hand in a blur. Zabuza's eyes widened as the weapon buried itself in the center of his face. Naruto frowned as water flowed from the wound instead of blood.

_Water clone? Shit. _He thought, sniffing around for the genuine article.

_Let me take him on, kid. The two from earlier weren't near enough to slake my thirst. _The Kyuubi thought, shaking with bloodlust.

_Sorry, Kyuubi-sama. I don't want my teammates to know about you just yet, and I know you'd go all out against this guy. _Naruto thought back, watching as the two Jonin traded vicious blows, each turning out to be a water clone. Zabuza landed a kick on Kakashi, kicking him into the lake. Quickly performing a Shunshin, the bandaged assassin appeared next to him, hands moving in a flurry as he performed some hand signs.

"Gotcha." Zabuza said, an orb of water forming around Kakashi, trapping him.

Naruto frowned, though he was mildly excited. _I'll make it up to you, Kyuubi-sama. _He thought with a mental smirk.

_Oh yeah? Just how do you figure you'll do that, brat?_

_By putting on a good show, of course._ Naruto answered, unsnapping the weights on his arms and legs. The fox laughed slightly as Naruto shot forward, movements enhanced by the sudden lightness of his limbs. Unfortunately, a water clone of Zabuza rose out of the ground, kicking the Jinchuuruki in the head and knocking him backward. "Damn it." Naruto thought, touching his forehead in annoyance. His hitai-ite had been knocked off.

"You kids, playing at being ninja." The original Zabuza said derisively. "When I was your age, these hands of mine were already stained with blood."

Naruto snorted slightly at that, since his own hands had had blood on them earlier in the day. Sasuke too, seemed unthreatened by that. Broiling a man had that effect on a lot of people. Only Sakura seemed put out by that, and Kakashi's explanation, a story of what sounded like an incredibly brutal practice to Naruto, did little to help that mood.

"Oi, Sasuke." Naruto said, keeping his eye on Zabuza's clone while Kakashi continued his morbid retelling of Zabuza's back story.

"I'm guessing you have a plan, dead-last?" Sasuke said, moving closer to Tazuna while he spoke.

"Always, Sasuke." Naruto was slightly amused that what had started as an insult had quickly become an endearing nickname. "Keep on your guard. I'm going to get my hitai-ite back."

Naruto blurred forward, dodging another kick by Zabuza's clone as he scooped up the forehead protector. He jumped towards a tree and purposely applied too much chakra, using the rebound to end up back by his team. _I probably could have freed Kakashi right there, but I think it's important for the others to get some confidence._

Sakura blinked a bit, stunned by the skill Naruto had gained. "So now that you have your forehead protector, what's your plan?"

Naruto smirked slightly. "I'm going to stay back here, by Tazuna. If he gets by you, I'm fast enough that I can hold him off for a bit." He pointed towards the original Zabuza. "He hasn't moved since he caught Kakashi-sensei. I figure if we can get him away from the dome, the jutsu will dispel."

"Don't be stupid! This was over the minute he caught me!" Kakashi called out. "His clone will collapse if you get a set distance away from the original!"

Naruto and Sasuke scowled. Naruto at the idea that he'd abandon a comrade, Sasuke at the idea that he was weak. "What's your plan, Naruto?" Sasuke asked through grit teeth.

Naruto smiled. _Getting a little respect from Sasuke. Sakura'll be jealous._ He thought, whispering to his teammates. Sakura and Sasuke's eyes widened, impressed by the plan.

"Alright, let's do this." Sakura said, slamming a fist into her palm. Naruto nodded, the pink-haired girl standing on his palm as he lifted her.

"Ready, bastard?" Naruto asked, grinning as Sasuke nodded, molding some hand signs.

"When you are, dead-last." The boy said, sucking in air for the second time that day. As earlier, a gigantic fireball flew from the raven-haired boy's mouth and went speeding towards the clone.

The clone smirked and dodged to the right, a huge cloud of smoke rising up from the miniature explosion. Naruto hurled Sakura as hard as he could, using the smoke to hide her from the real Zabuza's view. As soon as she was free of his hands, he charged the clone, slicing it in half with the claws he willed to appear. _That's my part done! Go, Sakura!_

Sakura grimaced as she passed through the smoke, flying at a high speed towards a man who had been killing since childhood. _Naruto and Sasuke-kun both did their duty, now it's my turn! _ She thought, pulling kunai as she flew. The bandaged Jonin's eyes widened in shock as the small missile flew at him, and he dropped to avoid her, his arm still in the sphere. Sakura rolled as she landed, spinning to throw her kunai at him while he was down. All in all, Naruto's plan had been identical to his plan during the bell test. Take out a variable, knock the opponent off balance, and complete the objective while they're down. Zabuza was forced to use a Shunshin to dodge the kunai, the sphere of water collapsing as he moved away.

The three Genin smiled at their victory, as did their sensei, who turned towards a panting Zabuza. "Now, Zabuza…where were we?"

* * *

Endnote: Remember last chapter, when I got all excited about writing this one? Yeah, turns out, my Naruto is very hard to weaken enough to make combat exciting. Short of "Naruto uses the chakra shroud to crush the Demon Brothers/Zabuza" I couldn't come up with an idea for the fights. Hence why it took me so long to write. I tried to make it interesting though. Sakura did something useful instead of just being a meatshield for Tazuna, and Sasuke's "Grand Fireball" actually accomplished something for once! Boy am I shaking up the canon with this AU, huh? Anyways, as you probably didn't read on my twitter, this chapter was delayed for several reasons. Messed my hand up playing football, which made it hard to type, had to do some serious studying for class, and one of my friends showed me a new show I'm in love with, Breaking Bad. As it stands now, my hand is healed, I've got Easter break looming, and I'm caught up on Breaking Bad, so hopefully no more delays. As usual, I'm going to try and update in the next few days, and please review. I"m absurdly touched by every one of them.


	5. Training

A/N: I haven't been sleeping at all lately, which is why I'm updating again so soon. I'm hoping you shouldn't get used to it, but the pessimist in me says you should. On to good news: my story broke 2500 in hits! I'm amazed something I decided to write on a whim has gotten so popular. As always, I have to marvel at how different it is for me to have people reading the stuff I write, and liking it. Thanks so much to all of you who've read, reviewed, favorited, or signed up for the alerts on this little project of mine. Enough slack jawed awe from me, let's get this party started!

Many thanks to **Zuzack **and **Kaouthakis **for their highly detailed critiques and advice. Definitely made me put my thinking cap on.

As always, I own nothing. On with the show I say!

* * *

Chapter 5: Training

After her successful bid to free her sensei, Sakura was left standing near two very pissed off Jonin. Sensing the level of killing intent coming from Kakashi and Zabuza, Sasuke shouted out to his female teammate. "Sakura, get out of there!" He cried, tossing a kunai up into the air. Sakura brightened and performed a few hand signs.

_Kawarimi! _She thought, trading places with the weapon.

_Brilliant thinking, you three._ Kakashi thought. "So Zabuza," Kakashi repeated. "Where were we?"

Zabuza chuckled a bit. "I can't believe your brats actually made me drop my jutsu." He said, readying his massive sword. "Let's see if you're as impressive."

Kakashi smirked under his mask. "Fair warning Zabuza, the same trick won't work on me twice."

Zabuza snorted, flying into hand signs. His eyes widened as he saw Kakashi mimicking him exactly. _Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu! _As one, two giant dragons of water rose from both men, colliding with each other, blowing them both back. The area they were standing in was flooded with water up to their knees, forming a small lake.

_So that's the Sharingan. _Naruto thought with a hint of awe.

_I _need _to awaken mine so I can have this power!_ Sasuke thought with bitter envy.

Zabuza and Kakashi recovered from the blowback easily, Zabuza eyeing Kakashi a little more warily. "Impressive, Copy Cat. Truly impressive." Zabuza said. "But it'll take more than your chimp-like imitation to beat me, a master Suiton user."

Kakashi smirked. "Odds are, you're right, Oh Demon of the Hidden Mist." He made a few hand signs of his own. "Luckily, I'm not just a parrot." He used a Shunshin, appearing at the edge of the lake as lightning chakra gathered in his hand. "Let me ask you a question, Master of Water: what happens when Lightning goes through a lake?" Zabuza's eyes widened as Kakashi thrust a ball of lightning into the water, forcing the missing-nin to leap into the air to avoid being electrocuted. As he neared the shore, a hail of needles slammed into his back with enough force to send him clear. Kakashi frowned, cancelling his chakra flow. Sakura looked absolutely dumbfounded, her jaw slack in shock. Naruto and Sasuke were both on guard as Kakashi walked towards Zabuza and checked his pulse. _WAY dead. _Kakashi thought, turning towards the direction the hail of senbon had come from.

Sticking to the bottom of a tree branch by chakra was a figure of indeterminate gender not much older than the three Genin, his face obscured by a featureless porcelain mask. On the mask were four swerving lines, marking him as a shinobi of Kirigakure. Kakashi sighed, pulling his hitai-ite back down. The boy disappeared in a flurry of leaves, reappearing next to Zabuza's body in a slight bow. "I apologies for stealing your kill, Hatake-san. I've been following this man for days now, trying to find the perfect moment to strike."

Naruto narrowed his eyes. Something about the masked boy was off. _If he was looking for a chance to attack him, why didn't he do it when Zabuza had Kakashi imprisoned? _"Excuse me." Naruto said, staring at the boy from Kiri. "Just who are you?" He asked suspiciously.

Kakashi sighed. "Relax Naruto, he's not an enemy. He's a Hunter-nin from Kirigakure."

Naruto frowned, still not liking it. "This kid only a few years older than us just swoops in and kills a guy you'd basically defeated, but he has a mask on his face so you trust him? Doesn't that sound a little idiotic to you?" He asked, crossing his arms in frustration. _Kyuubi-sama, what do you think of this?_

The Kyuubi yawned in his mindscape. _I don't particularly care. If he attacks, we'll kill him. If he just killed your enemy, then it's a moot point. _The fox grinned in his mindscape. _But I'll memorize the brat's scent for you, just in case._

_Thanks, Kyuubi-sama._ The fox grunted at the unneeded thanks, going back to the comfort of its favorite tree.

"Look Naruto, I understand how you might feel. But you need to get used to the fact that there are people out there as young as you, but stronger than me."

Naruto stared at his teacher incredulously. _What?! That wasn't the point I was trying to make at all._

The "hunter-nin" cleared his throat, hefting Zabuza's corpse up onto his shoulder. "If you'll excuse me, Hatake-san, but I need to dispose of this body." He vanished again, leaving Team 7 and their target to stand around awkwardly.

"Tazuna-san, let's get moving." Kakashi said, lifting his pack. The bridge builder nodded, inviting them all to stay at his house. Kakashi followed him as Naruto grunted in annoyance, earning a raised eyebrow from Sasuke.

_Hey, that's _my _shtick. _The Uchiha thought, adjusting his own gear and staring at the blonde Genin. As Naruto snapped his weights back on, fuming to himself about being too trusting, he snapped out of it when he noticed his teammates staring at him.

"Don't worry guys; I'm sure I got paranoid for no reason." Naruto said, standing with a slight smile as he cracked his back.

Sakura didn't return the smile. "Like when you were paranoid about Tazuna's story?"

Naruto's smile turned genuine. "Exactly." _She's finally starting to examine things for herself, instead of blindly clinging to Sasuke. Excellent, she'll be much easier to work with, and therefore protect, that way._

Sasuke smirked a little. "If he was working with Zabuza, then we'll be ready for him when he comes back."

Naruto nodded, following his team to Tazuna's house.

* * *

When the group arrived at Tazuna's house, they were quickly settled in by his daughter, Tsunami. Once they were in the living room and relaxing a bit, Kakashi turned to Naruto. "You had a point, you know." He said softly as something occurred to him. Naruto looked up at him questioningly.

"What point was that, sensei?" He asked, suspecting he knew.

"That hunter-nin we saw. They're supposed to destroy the body on-site, yet he took the time to carry it off. Also, there's the matter of the weapon he used." Kakashi said.

"Senbon." Sasuke said, clenching his fist. _I should have said something._

Sakura blinked, looking between her three teammates. "Of course! Senbon are practically medical tools, they aren't very good for weaponry." Her teammates stared at her, clearly wondering where she'd figured that out. "Er…I've been looking into medical techniques in my free time. I figured I'm smart enough to handle it." She said with a slight blush.

Naruto nodded with an impressed expression before turning back to Kakashi. "Why didn't you bring this up when he was in front of us?" He asked.

"A few reasons: One, shock at seeing our opponent killed by a bystander, Two: I was getting close to Chakra exhaustion. Not only did that mess with my thinking, if I were to let you attack him, a fresh opponent would have made mince meat out of us."

"So let me get this straight…" Tazuna said, leaning against the doorway where he'd been listening in. "That freak with no eyebrows is probably still alive, and he's got a partner that's probably as good as he is?"

Sasuke and Naruto smirked, while Kakashi smiled cheerfully. "Yep, looks that way."

Tazuna smiled as well, sitting down and drinking deep from the bottle in his hand. "Great. I'm assuming you guys are going to do something about it?"

Kakashi nodded, growing serious. "Since he was put in a near death state, it'll be at least a week before he's back to full strength. Maybe even longer. That gives us time to train."

There was a bitter laugh behind them. "As if training would help you guys!" A little kid said, padding into the room and hugging Tazuna. "Welcome home, Grandpa."

"It's good to see you, Inari. But please, be more polite to our guests."

"But grandpa, they're all going to die." The little boy said seriously. "There's no way they can beat Gatō.

Naruto snorted, Sasuke remained emotionless, and Sakura glared daggers at the boy. "Listen, kid. We just beat one of the best ninja around, I'm pretty sure we don't have to worry about a prick in a suit." Naruto said, crossing his arms.

"That's right!" Sakura shouted. "Besides, we're ninja! Practically superheroes!"

"There's no such thing as heroes." The boy said simply, walking out of the room and heading upstairs.

Naruto grit his teeth and moved to follow him, but a look from Kakashi stopped him. Growling slightly, he turned his grimace into a smile. "So…when do we start with that training, sensei?"

* * *

The next day, the Team stood at the site of Tazuna's nearly completed bridge. "We're going to train right here. That way we can protect Tazuna-san and get you guys stronger." Kakashi said, eye turned up in a smile.

Sasuke smiled. "What kind of training are we doing?" He asked curiously. He was hoping for some ninjutsu training, though he'd settle for some new taijutsu skills.

"Well, I figured we could start on the basics of chakra control. Behind me," Kakashi pointed at a large stone wall that served as a guard rail for the time being. "Is a big wall." He said, walking towards it. His team rolled their eyes, wishing he'd get to the point.

_Apparently he can't even speak his mind in a timely fashion. _Sasuke thought, wishing he had the personality to share the joke.

"What are we going to be _doing _with the big wall, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked, completely serious. Whatever it was, he trusted his sensei wouldn't waste their time.

"Climbing it! With no hands!" Kakashi said, grinning as he climbed the wall vertically.

Naruto sighed. "So it's like the tree-climbing technique, then?" He asked, making Kakashi nearly stumble in surprise.

"How do you know about that? Are they teaching it at the Academy now?" _Why would they ruin the teacher's fun when they get to freak out their students? Why?! _Kakashi thought. He frowned when Sasuke and Sakura shook their heads, clearly confused.

"A…friend of mine showed it to me." Naruto said. He wasn't sure if Yamato teaching him was a secret, but he wouldn't risk it just yet.

Kakashi sighed. "So you already know how to do it?" He asked with a longer frown.

Rather than answer, Naruto strode up the wall next to him with ease. He'd figured out the technique about a week after Yamato had shown it to him, and even worked to increase the difficulty. To demonstrate, Naruto placed his hands against the wall and performed a handstand. "Yeah, sensei, I think I have it." He said with a bit of pride.

Kakashi stared at him for a second, and then smiled. "Excellent. Teach the others how to do it." He said, pulling out his book and dropping easily to the ground.

Naruto frowned and shrugged, dropping down as well. As Kakashi walked away, Naruto formed a single hand sign. _Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_. Two clones of Naruto appeared. "Help these guys out." He ordered, his clones nodding. Naruto followed Kakashi slowly.

"Not very nice of you, Naruto." Kakashi said, turning the page.

"So is punishing me for knowing something already, Kakashi-sensei." Naruto said, whirling as one of his Bunshin dispelled.

"This is pretty easy." Sakura said from atop the wall. Kakashi was flabbergasted, looking at the blushing Uchiha with disbelief.

_Sasuke didn't get it on his first try, eh? _Kakashi thought. _Seems like Sakura has the best mainline control, but I don't know how long it took Naruto to master it. _He laughed a bit. "Excellent, Sakura! You and _Naruto_" Kakashi said, glaring at the boy behind him pointedly "show Sasuke how to do it and I'll move you on to the next step."

Naruto grunted slightly, dispelling his remaining clone as Sakura hopped carefully down to help Sasuke. Sasuke, for his part, could make it halfway up the wall before slipping off. Sasuke flipped backwards to avoid falling, landing next to Sakura with a huff. "So what am I doing wrong, dead-last?" He asked, crossing his arms.

"The same thing I kept doing wrong when I learned it. The amount of chakra you need to use has to be exactly right. Too small, you slip off, too much, you break through. Just think of it like a jutsu, you put in too little, jutsu fails, too much, you blow your face off." Naruto smirked. "Now, go up there, stop being a dumbass, and don't blow your face off." He said, providing the motivation for the Uchiha. After five attempts or so, Sasuke could climb to the top of the wall without much stumbling.

"Very good, all of you. Now that you have that much down, I'll show you each a technique. But first, there's a test that must be done." Kakashi said, pulling out four strips of paper and handing one to each of his students. "This is chakra paper. You channel a little bit of chakra into it, and by what happens, we'll know your element."

Naruto frowned a bit at that, about to ask what that meant when the Kyuubi rolled its eyes. _Don't embarrass us, brat. Your element is what kind of those weak-ass jutsus you ninja are so fond of using that you're best at. You know, Wind, Water, that kind of stupidity. _Having sufficiently belittled its host, the Kyuubi returned to hunting rabbits in Naruto's mind. "So what is supposed to happen?" Naruto asked instead, staring at the piece of paper in his hand.

"Watch." Kakashi said, channeling a bit of chakra into the paper, causing it to crinkle up. "See? That's because I'm a Lightning type. I specialize in Raiton jutsu."

"Is that what you used against Zabuza?" Sasuke asked, wanting to gauge the power of such a technique.

"No, that was just basic lightning chakra. I'm going to show you how to change your basic chakra into elemental chakra as soon as we figure out your elements."

Sasuke was growing more excited. If that was what just the chakra could accomplish, he could only imagine the techniques. "I'll go first." He said shortly, channeling chakra into the paper. Half of it burned up, the other half crinkled. "…What does that mean?" He said, confused.

Kakashi whistled appreciatively. "That, my raven-haired friend, means that you possess a dual affinity. Pretty rare. Ok, so you're a fire _and _lightning type. I have just the pair of jutsu for you." He smirked. "That's actually perfect for you. You're going to be a powerhouse of offensive techniques by the time I'm through with you." He turned to Sakura with a grin. "And the young lady?" She blushed slightly and channeled the chakra. The piece of paper immediately grew damp. "Ah, water! Useful for both attack and illusions." He paused. "Pretty good for a medic too, if you're really interested in that."

Naruto was excited to test his, if only to get some jutsu out of his sensei. If he couldn't use the Kyuubi's power in the presence of his team he wanted to still be able to hold his own. His taijutsu was still sloppy, so he couldn't count on that. "Here goes nothing." He muttered channeling his own chakra into the paper, eyes widening when it crumbled to dust.

Kakashi was dumbfounded for the second time in an hour. _To think the son of Minato-sensei would be an Earth type. Kami really does love a joke. _"And Naruto is an earth type. Excellent attack and defense, though it's weak against lightning type jutsu." He blinked. "I hope you two never try to kill one another." He said, smiling at Sasuke and Naruto.

The two Genin looked at each other, neither laughing at the joke. _He…probably wouldn't._ Naruto thought, before mentally shrugging. It's not like a normal human could stand against a demon, even if he was an Uchiha.

Kakashi looked back and forth between them, noticing the reaction his joke had received with a groan. _Definitely need to work on their bonds together. Hmm…I do owe Sasuke a lightning move…_ Kakashi blinked as he realized what he'd been thinking. _Ok, maybe not _that _lightning move until he's more skilled. _"In any case, I have a technique for each of you to learn that corresponds with what we've just discovered."

* * *

Three days had passed since they'd discovered their elemental affinities, and they'd spent them working on the techniques Kakashi had given them out in a forest behind Tazuna's house; Kakashi standing guard over the bridge builder. Not that the techniques were challenging, they were only C-ranked, but they were expecting heavy combat within the week, so it was vital that they have their technique mastered before they attempted to use it in combat. Naruto was supplying them targets using his Kage Bunshin, the clones doubling as sparring partners when they weren't firing elements at them. After a while, the three Genin had decided to combat each other at the same time, the goal being to dispel more clones than the other two. Each had been assigned twenty clones, with a band of colored cloth to denote a "team".

_Flashback…_

_Sasuke had stared at his teacher in confusion. He had hoped Kakashi would teach him a Raiton technique after seeing him nearly defeat Zabuza with just the chakra required. But when his cyclopic teacher had suggested a Katon, especially one ranked the same as a move Sasuke already knew, the boy had been disappointed. However, Kakashi had promised that when Sasuke improved, he'd teach him a powerful lightning technique, which placated the boy. "What's the name of the technique?" Sasuke asked finally, crossing his arms._

_Kakashi had done his bizarre eye-smile. "It's called…"_

…_Flashback end_

_Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu__! _Sasuke thought, tiny bits of flame breezing towards the crowd of Pink banded Naruto clones. Seeing Sasuke about to score several points, Sakura flew through some hand signs of her own, holding a hand in front of her mouth.

_Suiton: Mizurappa__! _She thought, a stream of water flying from her mouth and extinguishing the flames. Her smirk widened as the shuriken that had been hidden within the flames were blown off course by the force of her technique. _Not too shabby! _She thought with happiness.

Sasuke smiled slightly, impressed by the kunoichi's growth. _Now where'd Naruto run off to…?_ He thought, looking around for the orange banded group of clones.

"I'd jump clear, if I were you." Naruto said from a fair distance away. Breezing through the hand seals, he slapped his hands down on the ground and twisted.

Sakura and Sasuke leapt into the air, their clones dispersing as a large whirlpool of crushing earth formed under their feet. "Naruto, you jerk!" Sakura shouted with a laugh.

"Sorry Sakura, I'll try not to win next time." Naruto said with a fox-like grin. Suddenly, he paused and sniffed the air around him. _I know this smell. Why do I know this smell?_ Naruto's mind was racing, trying to place it as a black haired girl walked into the clearing. Apparently, she'd been deep in thought, since when she looked up and saw the destruction from Naruto's jutsu she gasped in surprise.

Looking at the three Genin in shock, she gulped before speaking. "Excuse me…are you three ninja?"

Sasuke stared at the girl for a few moments. "Yes, we are. I apologize if we frightened you, but you've caught us training." He said politely, earning a shocked stare from Sakura and a confused eyebrow from Naruto. Sasuke may have acted the celibate in class, but that was just because every female he knew was annoying. After all, it was impossible to restore a clan by yourself, no matter how skilled a shinobi you were. Sasuke had hoped to find a girl that he could wow in his youth, then, after he killed his brother, he could come in and sweep her off to Konoha to marry. The girl that had wandered into the clearing was obviously a civilian, but Sakura proved that civilian blood didn't necessarily produce subpar shinobi. Speaking of the pink-haired girl, she was glaring at the new arrival in jealousy.

"What're you doing way out here, all by yourself?" Sakura asked, her tone a little _too _sweet.

The girl's eyes widened as she looked around the ripped up forest floor. "Ah, I was coming to find some healing herbs, but it looks like they've all been swept away." She said, a little sadly.

"Way to go, dead-last." Sasuke said, curling his lip at Naruto.

Naruto mentally palmed his face. _Oh, great. Now I've got Sasuke defending some strange girl's honor. Why the hell does she smell so familiar? Kyuubi-sama, is this the hunter-nin we saw earlier?_

The fox blinked. _You actually thought I was going to memorize some monkey's scent? _It burst out laughing._ I have no idea who she is. If that masked chimp had used any serious chakra, I'd be able to tell you by that, but as it stands, your guess is as good as mine._

Naruto swore. The fox always picked the worst times to be rebellious. "I'm sorry about that. Do you think there might be more nearby? We'll help you look." He offered, trying to think of a way to test his theory.

"No, that's alright. The person I'm getting them for is precious to me, not to you, so I wouldn't feel right making you help out a stranger. There are some closer to our home; I just walked out here for the exercise." She said, rising quickly and moving to leave. Haku had really come out that far because of the chakra that had come from the Genin's training. _I'll have to tell Zabuza-sama that our opponents are getting stronger._

Naruto narrowed his eyes at the girl. "If they're so precious to you that you won't accept our help, then why would you choose the prolonged method of helping them?" He asked, taking a step towards her. "Just where is this house of yours, anyway?"

Sasuke stepped between them, leaning close to Naruto. "What the hell are you doing, dead-last? She's a civilian, calm down." He whispered, not wanting to frighten the girl.

Naruto turned to face his teammate, taking his eyes off the girl. "Something about her doesn't feel right to me. My instincts have always told me when something was wrong with a situation, and right now, they're yelling like crazy that there's something off with her."

Sakura had taken her eyes off the girl as well, staring at her arguing teammates. Suddenly, the air grew slightly chilly, and when the three turned to look, the girl was gone.

* * *

Endnote: Whew, that was a lot of fun. Couple of notes before I do my "Review please" speech: 1. Before anybody complains that my Naruto's perception is way too skilled, here's my reasoning: similar to Gaara, I imagine Naruto got attacked a lot by the villagers. Since he didn't have an unstoppable defense that would kill these people as soon as he was in danger, Naruto had to learn pretty quickly when to sense if something was wrong with a person before they attacked him. It also makes him naturally suspicious of any new face. Put those together, and you've got a nit-picking Naruto that scrutinizes damn near everything. 2. I'm not sure if Haku is female in this story or not. It won't affect the story either way, but for now, I'm keeping it open. Sasuke's being respectful to him/her is not my idea, it comes from Operator by Case13 (which I'm going to go ahead and plug, since I like that story). I like the idea that Sasuke is only a douche because people like Ino and Sakura annoy him. (Can you blame him? No, you can't.) And finally, 3. About the elements I chose for the three Genin. I made Naruto a Doton user because I'm tired of reading fics that adhere to Naruto being a Fūton user like it's gospel. From what I understand, the elemental persuasion is random. (I'm sure I'm wrong about that, but it's too late now Hahaha.) In other words, I made Naruto use Doton because I've never seen it before, and I imagine a few of you haven't either. Also, I'm curious to see an Earth Rasengan. With Sakura, I'm not actually sure if Genjutsu/Medic types like Water, but it makes sense to me so I put it in. Plus, I like the idea that Team 7 balances each other out somewhat, like elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors. Sasuke beats Naruto who beats Sakura who beats Sasuke. Anyways, enough of my gibberish. Let me know what you thought of the chapter, if you think I need improvement, etc. See you in a few days, probably!


	6. Battle at the Bridge

A/N: Ladies and gents, my story has 4,500 in hits. 46 of you have favorited, 57 have added alert notices. Another 12 have alerted themselves to me personally, and I'm even a favorite author on a few of your pages. These are all great things in my book.

Now then, quite a few comments after last chapter, either complaining or praising my choice for Naruto's element. Like I said in the endnote last chapter, it's purely a choice by me. I've never seen it before, and it's sort of a challenge from myself to get creative. Speaking of which, I had Naruto use an earth technique but forgot to supply the name. The move is called "Doton: Retsudo Tenshō" and it behaves as I described. It twists the earth and crushes anybody that gets caught in it. That reminds me of something I'd been meaning to ask. So far, the only techniques I've named have come from the Naruto wiki. I'll be making up my own fairly soon, but if you'd like to make some suggestions, I'd appreciate it. On the other question I had last chapter, I've decided to stick to canon and have Haku be a guy.

Now then, let's wrap up the Wave arc, shall we? As you may have noticed by now, I own nothing. On with the show.

* * *

Chapter 6: Battle at the Bridge

"So you spoke to Zabuza's trump card, eh?" Kakashi asked, his book open as always.

"Seems that way. Claimed to be picking herbs for 'a precious person'." Naruto said, reading a scroll about Earth techniques Kakashi had given him. _Earth Clones, eh? Seems promising… _He thought, filing it away for a less stressful time.

Tazuna downed the last of his bottle with a belch. "I don't suppose you could figure out what that little monster's gender is, could you?" He asked with a smile.

Naruto let out a bark of laughter. "As soon as we figure it out, we'll let you know."

"More importantly, we think we've figured out some of her abilities." Sasuke said, trying to steer the conversation back to something resembling a point, his own scroll of fire techniques discarded. The Uchiha compound had libraries full of Katon techniques, after all.

"Oh? In what manner? Did she cast a genjutsu to escape; did you have to fight her off, what?" Kakashi asked, growing serious.

"_He_ uses ice." Sakura said without looking up from her own scroll. All the men noticed the emphasis on her theory about the assassin's gender.

_Jealousy. _They thought in unison.

Kakashi blinked a few times as he noticed the more important part of Sakura's statement. "Ice? How do you mean?"

Naruto set the scroll aside. "We took our eyes off of her for a second or two. When we looked back, shewas gone, but the area around where she'd been standing was covered in frost."

"Ok then. By our theory, Zabuza should be healed in a few days at the latest. I want you three to come with me to guard Tazuna-san again. You can still train, if you'd like, but I feel it's for the best for us all to be together just in case."

The three Genin nodded, wincing when they heard a skeptical grunt behind them.

"I keep telling you, there's no way you can beat Gatō." Inari said, staring at the ground in anger.

Naruto turned to him with a sigh. "Come with me kid." He said, walking outside. With a puzzled expression, Inari followed. "Tazuna-san told us what happened to your father."

Inari paled slightly before his expression hardened. "So? Like you have any idea what that's like!" He shouted defiantly.

Naruto's gaze hardened to match Inari's. "Hmph." He grunted. "There was a man back home that died defending me from a teacher I'd trusted for most of my life. He died right in front of me with a weapon in his back, a hit he took for a person my whole village has despised since the day I was born. Back home, there're only about ten people that even give me the time of day, and you've met three of them already." He turned to go back in the house. "So before you come crying to me, brat, I'd keep that little tidbit in mind."

Inari was staring at him in shock. _He's certainly not carefree, but he doesn't seem to be that torn up about it! _The small boy thought, eyes moistening. "Why aren't you as sad as I am then, if your life has been so terrible?! How do you get through the day, knowing you caused a man to die?!"

Naruto turned back to Inari, his expression softened slightly. "I decided that I'd never let it happen again. I failed Iruka-sensei, but I'm training my hardest to make sure nobody precious to me has to protect me again. You can do that too. If you love this land, then give it your all to defend it!" He opened the door and stepped into the house, sparing Inari one last look. "It's what your father would have wanted."

* * *

Two nights later, Naruto stared at the three clones of earth he'd just created with a scroll in front of him. He was creating a few notes to use later on. _Not as much of a chakra pull as the _Kage_ Bunshin, but the more chakra imbued the more solid I can pack the earth. _He crouched in front of one, delivering a solid hit to its midsection. He smirked as the clone hunched over, but didn't dispel. Moving over to a different one, he performed a standard combo of hits and kicks. As soon as he landed the finisher, the clone crumbled to dust. Incredibly _more durable, but lack the autonomy of Kage Bunshin. _He frowned, suddenly coming to a realization. _Memories don't transfer either, so it's not as useful for dispelling traps. _He tapped his pen against his chin, considering.

"Elemental clones are most useful during combat." Kakashi said idly, turning a page in his book.

_He must have read that book by now…or did he bring more than one? _Naruto thought with a smile. "But shadow clones are useful for reconnaissance." He said conversationally.

Kakashi nodded, and then smiled. "True, both because they can think for themselves and you get their memories when they dispel. But consider this:" He said, flinging shuriken at Naruto.

"What the hell?!" Naruto shouted, using the Kawarimi to switch with one of his earth clones. The earth clone took the hits impassively, a few loose chunks of rock the only sign it had been damaged.

"You see? You can substitute a dense earth clone for your own body!" Kakashi said, eye turned up in his signature smile.

Naruto walked back to his scroll, writing something down. "Not really practical until I can increase my speed at creating them though. Right now, it takes me about thirty seconds to shape the clone just right. A side effect of having as much chakra as I do is that I can't just create a generic earth clone; it has to have detail and be considerably dense. Otherwise they fall apart as soon as they form."

Kakashi's smile vanished, his hand going to his chin. "Hmm…that removes one of the biggest perks of the technique for the time being at least. We'll try to come up with an alternative once we get back to Konoha, but for now, I'd stick to shadow clones if you need to clone yourself on the fly."

"Yes, Kakashi-sensei." Naruto said, rerolling his scroll and slipping it into a pouch on his belt.

Kakashi smirked as a thought occurred to him. "You know, if you'd put in as much effort back at the Academy as you are nowadays, I think you'd have given Sasuke a run for his money at Rookie of the Year."

Naruto smiled slightly at the compliment, and then let it fade. "I was a dumb kid back then, Kakashi-sensei. It wasn't until graduation night that I learned how serious this life of ours can be." He went inside without another word. Kakashi watched him go with a sad expression.

_Minato-sensei, if only you could see the man your son is becoming._

-----------------

The next morning, the bridge builder and his escort left to go to put the finishing touches on the bridge. Before leaving, Naruto made four Kage Bunshin to keep watch over Inari and Tsunami, just in case. They hadn't been attacked yet, so it was unlikely that they would be, but a delayed assault was a possibility, so Naruto prepared for it. When they made it to the bridge, Naruto immediately tensed. "Our guests are right on time, Kakashi-sensei." Unable to resist a jab, Naruto smiled. "Why don't you see if your Sharingan can copy _that_?"

Kakashi rubbed the bridge of his masked nose with a smile on his face, while Sasuke and Sakura smirked at his back. "Ah, gallows humor." Zabuza said, appearing in front of the group. His masked associate appeared a second after in a low stance, needles already gripped tightly in his fists. "Let's try this again, Copy Cat. Give up the old man and my Haku won't have to kill your children."

"These 'children' almost wiped the floor with you last time, Zabuza." Kakashi said, unveiling his Sharingan. "And now that I think about it, I _did _wipe the floor with you."

"Ah, but Haku and I have figured out that eye's weakness." Zabuza said, hefting his sword. "If I don't use any ninjutsu, you have nothing to copy. Unfortunately for you, I'm an expert at kenjutsu." He rushed at Kakashi, swinging his giant sword easily, not giving Kakashi time to make any hand signs of his own.

Kakashi blocked a blow with a kunai. "So let me get this straight. Your plan to defeat a ninja whose entire reputation comes from the fact that he's copied a thousand techniques is to…not teach him a thousandth and first? Did it take you all week to come up with that, or did you cram at the last minute?" Though he mocked the tactic, he had to admit its validity. His fighting style hinged on mimicking the opponent until the hypnotic effect of the Sharingan made them panic. _I'll just stick with psychological warfare until I can get enough time to use a technique._

Naruto grinned as he unsnapped his weights. "Imagine if we'd given them a year to work at it, Kakashi-sensei." _I like it, Kakashi-sensei. _He thought, deciding to mimic the tactic. _Copying the Copy Cat. Wonders never cease._

Sasuke smirked, drawing some shuriken. Sakura gathered some water chakra and moved in front of Tazuna, ready to attack the still-immobile masked assassin if need be. "Please, surrender Tazuna-san. I have no wish to kill you." Haku said, rising from his crouch.

"I'm sorry, but that's not happening." Naruto said. "Before we get started though, can you tell us just what the hell your gender is?"

The masked shinobi wasn't rankled by Naruto's taunting and charged toward the clones. Sasuke intercepted, attempting a kick that was blocked. "Your speed is very impressive." Haku complimented pleasantly, one hand raised to begin forming seals.

Sakura noticed, however, spraying the assassin with water with enough force to knock the hand aside. "I read about one-handed seals in the library once. I'm not sure what technique you were planning on using against Sasuke-kun, but it won't happen while I'm around." She said, smirking.

"On the contrary, I must thank you." Haku said, blazing through some different seals. _Makyō Hyōshō._

Naruto flinched as the air began to chill. Whirling, he shoved Sakura and Tazuna back a few feet. Naruto smiled as they gaped at him. "Protect Tazuna-san Sakura. Sasuke and I will deal with this in a flash. Believe it."

Fourteen mirrors of ice rose from the water Sakura had soaked the area with and surrounded Naruto and Sasuke. Haku merged with one without speaking, a reflection appearing in each mirror. "Your chivalry better not bite us in the ass, dead-last." Sasuke said with a grim expression.

"Don't worry, bastard. Just like Kakashi-sensei said, I'll never let my comrades die."

"We shall see." Haku said suddenly, a rain of senbon flying from what seemed like every mirror and piercing the two boys. They coughed as the pain of the wounds hit them immediately after.

"I knew this was going to be a hassle." Sasuke said simply, wincing as Naruto merely pulled the needles out of himself.

"Just stay behind me, Sasuke." Naruto said as the scratches and nicks on his face began healing. _I hope you can keep doing that, Kyuubi-sama. I have a feeling this is going to be a long battle._

Sasuke kept his eyes peeled, trying to figure out the secrets of the jutsu. With a shrug, he went through a few hand signs. _The experimental approach then. Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu! _He thought, the ball of flames hitting a mirror with no visible effect.

"My mirrors are impervious to any fire technique." Haku said simply, drawing more needles and preparing to move again.

"Dually noted." Naruto said, slamming his hand into the ground. _Doton: Retsudo Tenshō! _Sasuke smirked as he leapt up to avoid the large whirlpool of concrete that formed on the bridge's surface. The mirrors on the bottom level began to fracture, Haku's reflection shimmering for a moment before vanishing.

"I guess he was in one of the bottom ones." Sasuke said, eyeing the pieces warily.

"Guess again." Haku said, his mask appearing in the fragments. Another shower of needles hit the two Genin, drawing a cry from Sasuke.

_This freak is going to kill Sasuke if this keeps up._ Naruto thought grimly, weighing his options. "How many more of those can you handle, Sasuke?"

Sasuke wheezed slightly, eyes still peeled for some kind of weakness to the technique. "Not many." He groaned, analyzing the technique mentally while he spoke. _I think I saw something that time…_

_So, brat, what will you do? Your precious teammate is going to die unless you can do something to protect him. _The Kyuubi said, grinning slightly at the implications.

Naruto groaned as Haku moved again. As the attack ended, Sasuke fell over. Both of his knees had been pierced cleanly. As he sat heavily, Naruto eyed him with shock. "Hey bastard, your eyes have gone red."

Sasuke's newly acquired Sharingan widened as he grinned. He tried to stand, only to fall back over. "Figures I get my Sharingan right as I'm taken out of the fight. I'm not sure how we're going to get out of this one, dead-last."

Naruto muttered a curse as he rolled his neck, stretching a bit for what he was preparing to do. "Kakashi-sensei!" He shouted, earning a confused look from his teacher.

"Little busy Naruto, I'll get you out once I'm through here!" Kakashi shouted, wincing as Zabuza's sword sliced through his side a bit.

"That's not what I wanted! I'm just trying to warn you not to freak out in a few seconds." Naruto smiled down at Sasuke then turned and winked at Sakura. "That goes for you all too." He looked up at Haku's reflection and his smile darkened. "_You, _on the other hand, can go ahead and panic." _Time to go to work, Kyuubi-sama._ Naruto thought, red chakra pouring out of him and forming a grinning fox's head.

_With pleasure, kid. _The Kyuubi responded, the giant chakra head's grin widening.

"What are you?" Haku asked, throwing more needles at the glowing boy.

Naruto chuckled, the senbon bouncing harmlessly off of the cloak as red arms of chakra extended and crushed the mirrors surrounding Naruto and Sasuke. "No one of consequence." Naruto answered, extending a curled hand towards the masked shinobi, catching him in the iron grip of chakra. Whirling, he did the same to Zabuza. When the pair of nuke-nin were suspended in front of him, he looked back and forth between them. "Now I can appreciate that you're trying to earn a living. I even get why you'd work for Gatō, bastard that he is, he's a rich bastard. But you tried to kill my friends." The Chakra aura darkened as Naruto grit his elongated teeth. "And _that _doesn't fly with me."

"Naruto…" Sakura said, feeling more confused than ever. Both because of the oppressive amount of killing intent leaking from her teammate, but also because of the level of protectiveness he was showing towards she and Sasuke-kun.

Naruto's nose twitched suddenly as another arm of chakra crushed through the bottom of the bridge and returned with a diminutive man in a suit.

"Gatō." Tazuna said angrily.

"W-what are you?!" Gatō shouted, staring at Naruto in fear.

Naruto's grin turned even more feral. "I hate repeating myself." He said as the hand holding Gatō clenched and killed the bespectacled man instantly.

Zabuza chuckled suddenly. "Well Haku, it looks like we're out of a job." He turned towards Naruto with a bored expression. "Either kill us or let us go. We have no reason to fight you anymore."

Kakashi rubbed his hair in exasperation. "Well Naruto, I think we've done enough already. The mercenaries below us scattered when their employer was pulled skyward." He turned toward Zabuza. "I figure two ninja of your ability should be able to find Gatō's stronghold and find enough money to cover your mission."

Zabuza laughed again. "And then some, yes." He looked at Naruto. "Well kid, what's it gonna be?"

Naruto cocked his head to the side, thinking. _Well, Kyuubi-sama? What do you think I should do?_

The fox laughed loudly. _I try to kill him the first time we meet and the kid wants to know what I think we should do with prisoners. _It thought to itself with another chuckle. _I don't give a damn what you do with them, let's just get it over with. _It said to Naruto with a yawn.

Naruto shrugged, dropping the nuke-nin unceremoniously. "Fine, get out of here. I hope we never see each other again."

Zabuza smirked before using a Shunshin, followed by Haku. Zabuza's voice drifted down from wherever they'd gone to. "I'm not sure if I share that wish, kid. You're…pretty interesting."

Naruto stared at the tree line for a moment before the chakra cloak dissipated and he let out a sigh. He turned to his teammates, who were looking at him with a mixture of awe and trepidation. He sighed again. "And now come the questions…" he muttered.

* * *

Endnote: Sorry I'm late; I got lost on the road of life. Not really, I just got a girlfriend who has been sucking up all my time. *gasp* Does this mean you'll include pairings in the story?! No, probably not. My stance on that still stands, but I'm more open to the idea than I was back when I was single and irritable. We'll see how that goes.

Anyways, sorry for the late update. Not only was it late, but I'm really dissatisfied with it. It took me forever to think of a way to end the Ice Mirror section without having Naruto use the chakra cloak. I tried everything I could think of, but none of it was any better, so I figured to hell with it. Another cliff hanger, and we'll be skipping the "Why are you a demon?!" Q & A to get to the Chunin exams, unless I think it'll be necessary to the characters. I've got a few ideas to shake up canon, not least of which is keeping Sasuke from constantly going "WHY NOT ME?!" every time somebody does something mildly impressive. We'll see how it goes.

See you when I see you, folks.


	7. Family Reunion

A/N: What a "break" that was. I missed having an affectionate girlfriend. But getting my own place, switching colleges, and working like crazy to afford getting my own place aren't my idea of a vacation. Anyways, my little story has got quite a lot of attention. The hit count…it's…OVER 9000.

Sorry. Couldn't resist.

In semi-related news, I'm thinking on starting a new story, but I won't abandon this one. I promised to take this at least as far as searching for Tsunade, and I never go back on my word.

I decided to skip the whole "Naruto is a demon?" conversation, this chapter will start after they return from Wave.

As I now own an apartment, I can't say I own nothing. But I don't own Naruto. On with the show!

Chapter 7: A "Family" reunion

Naruto cursed as the large fireball flew towards him. With a quick leap, he avoided the swirling mass of flames relatively simply, smirking at the annoyed "tsk" Sasuke made. Off to the side, Sakura and Kakashi were watching with a bored expression. Ever since returning from Wave a week ago, Sasuke and Naruto had had spars like these, with the only limitation being no deadly force. Unfortunately for Naruto, his healing factor made a lot of things nonlife-threatening, a giant fireball, for example.

"C'mon, dead-last! Spamming fire attacks at you isn't going to make me any stronger!" Sasuke shouted, smirking slightly as he threw some shuriken at Naruto.

"True, but dodging your slow ass fireball isn't going to get me any faster, so we're even." Naruto shouted, creating three Kage Bunshin to hide behind. '_Those damn Sharingan. Sasuke's hard enough to fight without having to worry he'll steal my techniques.' _Naruto's Kage Bunshin dispelled after another shuriken barrage, but he'd already finished forming his technique. '_Tsuchi Bunshin no Jutsu.'_

'_Damn, I didn't get a chance to see what he's got prepared…' _Sasuke thought, feeling a tug at his leg. He looked down, startled, to see a hand of mud pulling his body downward.

"Doton: Shinjū Zanshu no jutsu." Naruto said with a smirk, walking over to Sasuke's seemingly severed head. "What's the matter, bastard? Can't believe I outsmarted you?"

Sasuke smirked, bursting from the ground covered in lightning chakra. "Who says you did?" He asked as he brushed dirt off of his shoulder. "I outsmarted your clones by waiting till they'd flinched at my shuriken to form lightning chakra. Lightning beats earth, remember?"

Naruto cursed before gathering chakra to continue their spar. _We've got company, kid._ The Kyuubi said with an excited tone. _My little brother is watching us._ Naruto cocked an eyebrow and turned around, scanning the trees around the training ground.

'_Little brother…?'_ Naruto thought, not sure what to make of that comment.

"Naruto, what is it?" Sasuke asked, also scanning the trees.

"A little fox told me we've got a watcher among us. Claims our guest is a relative of his." Naruto said, still unsure what the fox was talking about. All his nose could detect was a raccoon. He sniffed deeper, smelling something more. "Whoever they are, they smell like blood. At first I thought it was just us, but this is more concentrated. Old too."

_You really are blind, kid. Allow me to point him out to you. _The Kyuubi said, Naruto's arm raising by itself and extending a hand of chakra. The rest of Team 7 stared with wide eyes at the faint red arm that shot toward the tree line.

"I'm sure eventually I'll get used to that Naruto, but in the meantime, how about a word of warning?" Sakura said, a small vein appearing in her forehead.

Naruto started to laugh, but it was cut off as the arm of chakra collided with a wall of sand. _Ha! Little brother's still using that trick. _The fox said, chuckling again. _Here he comes._

With a swirl of sand, a small red headed boy appeared in front of Team 7. He was wearing baggy clothing, clearly designed for desert living. Strangely, he had a large gourd strapped to his back. "You." The boy said in a dry monotone, pointing at Naruto. "You're like me. What is your name?"

Naruto crossed his arms, a faint aura of the Kyuubi's protective chakra surrounding him. "Uzumaki Naruto, Jinchuuruki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune, Genin of Konoha."

The red haired boy paled, which considering how pale he'd already been was a sight to see. "Sabaku no Gaara, Jinchuuruki of the Ichibi, Shukaku, Genin of Suna."

"Nice to meet you." Naruto muttered. "What are you doing in Konoha?"

Gaara silently regarded the blonde-haired Jinchuuruki. "My team and I are here to take the Chunin exams." He said finally.

Kakashi's eye momentarily widened before he schooled his expression. "While you may have a legitimate reason for being here, wandering around our village isn't allowed. I suggest you return to your lodgings."

Gaara's eyes narrowed, but he nodded. "I apologize for my indiscretion." Turning, he looked over his shoulder at Naruto. "I hope to see you in the Chunin exams."

As the red-head walked off, Naruto kept his eyes on him and his faint cloak of chakra active. Satisfied that the boy had gone, he turned back to Kakashi.

"What, pray tell, are the Chunin exams?" Naruto asked with a small frown.

Hiruzen sat behind his desk with a stern expression, staring at the Jonin instructors. "As some of you know, the Chunin exams will be hosted in Konoha this year. Would any of you like to nominate your Genin for promotion?" He asked, expression softening as he regarded the Jonin.

Sarutobi Asuma lit his cigarette with a smile, letting out a smooth exhale of smoke. "Team 10, consisting of Akimichi Chouji, Nara Shikamaru, and Yamanaka Ino are ready for advancement." _Probably._ He did not add. He knew that if he could convince Shikamaru to take the test, there was no reason they shouldn't all pass.

Might Guy shot a thumb up at the Hokage, adding a blindingly white grin. "Yosh! The adorable Team 9, consisting of Hyuuga Neji, Rock Lee, and Tenten will pass this test with their raging Fires of Youth!"

Yuuhi Kurenai stared at her smoking colleague in disbelief, but wasn't the sort to allow herself to be outdone. "Team 8, consisting of Aburame Shino, Hyuuga Hinata, and Inuzuka Kiba are also ready for advancement." _Provided Hinata isn't too timid to take the test._

The Jonin turned expectant eyes to Kakashi, who was sitting in the corner reading his ever present _Icha Icha Paradise_. "Well, my eternal rival? Will your Genin be taking on this challenge?" Guy asked with another broad grin.

"Eh? Did you say something?" Kakashi asked, turning the page, ignoring Guy's sputtering rant about 'hip attitudes'.

The Hokage smiled slightly. "Well, Kakashi? Is your team ready for the Chunin exams, or not?"

Kakashi closed his book and rubbed his chin with a mock thoughtful expression. "Oh, yes. They're excited about them. Chomping at the bit to advance." He said with a smile at the shocked expressions of the Jonin.

"And just how do they know the test is coming, when we only found out fifteen minutes ago?" Asuma asked suspiciously, blowing out smoke rings just to annoy his father.

"Hm? Oh, we encountered a Suna Nin earlier today who will be participating." Kakashi's expression turned serious. "He's the Jinchuuruki of the Ichibi." He said, staring at the Hokage.

Hiruzen paled slightly, before clearing his throat. "Well, since you're all nominating your teams, I think you should go meet with them and have them fill out the paperwork required. The first exam will be in a week." The Jonin all nodded, vanishing in a mass Shunshin as the Hokage stared off into space, before his gaze hardened. "Tenzo." He said softly, nodding as the man appeared in front of him with a swirl of leaves. "I want you to follow Naruto, as usual, and keep an eye out for this Suna nin Kakashi spoke of. Same orders as with Naruto, understood?" The man nodded and vanished again, as the former God of Shinobi finally pulled out his blessed pipe. _I never should have told Kurenai I wouldn't smoke during an official __meeting__ with her. That cursed son of mine always gloats his freedom over me._

The week preceding the Chunin exam went by quickly. Team 7 continued practicing with their elements, and began to grow into their roles for the team. Sakura would probably always be a support type; it suited both her personality and abilities. She had quickly mastered the few genjutsu Kakashi knew, and her skills with water jutsu were steadily improving. Sasuke, with his build and speed, was perfect for the assassination role. Kakashi still hadn't taught him a lightning move, but the Chidori was what he was leaning towards. Unfortunately, that meant Sasuke's speed had to improve a great deal. Because of Sakura's still present attraction to Sasuke, and Naruto's respect for him, he made a natural team leader. Naruto, as well as being a fledgling strategist, was quickly shaping up to be the team's Tank. His few Earth techniques allowed him to soak up the damage, as well as keep his opponents on their toes by constantly keeping them airborne, which allowed Sasuke to pick them off from midair.

Ever since the big revelation that Naruto contained the Kyuubi, the two had grown closer than ever, a certain conversation they'd had playing a huge part in that.

-Flashback-

_The two male Genin from Konoha sat silently in their shared room in Tazuna's house. Naruto hadn't spoken much since the discovery of the demon he contained, Sasuke was deep in thought. The blond-haired Genin was staring out the window of the small room, watching the small rainfall outside. Finally, his black-haired teammate cleared his throat._

"_The man I want to kill is my brother." He said softly, not really sure why he was sharing the info with the dead-last of the Academy._

_Naruto looked at Sasuke with a tired expression. "Oh?" He said simply, welcoming the distraction._

"_He killed my whole clan. He only spared me because I wasn't 'worth killing'. Your goal of being Hokage, what caused that?"_

_Naruto chuckled bitterly. "I had this notion that if I was Hokage, everyone who ignored me in my childhood, even those that actually attacked me would have no choice but to acknowledge me." He sighed. "I'm sure it seems stupid to the genius Rookie of the Year."_

_Sasuke shook his head. "Not at all, actually. I'm a genius, you say. In fact, everyone says that. Now, anyway. Back when the Uchiha still existed, the only people I cared about, my family, only saw me as second-rate. After all, Itachi was the prodigy. He blazed through the Academy, made ANBU captain at thirteen. I was nothing but the back-up, in case the invincible and perfect Itachi got killed on a mission. My father was displeased at anything less than perfection from me." He sighed. "Then my brother began to act strangely, and he started to take an interest in me. But by the time I'd even managed to make him slightly proud of me, Itachi had already started his plan."_

_Naruto was listening intently, realizing this was more than a distraction. Sasuke never spoke about his clan. This was probably something both of them needed to hear. "His plan?"_

_Sasuke nodded. "His plan to butcher my clan. He carried it out, too. You say you wanted everyone to acknowledge you. I have one goal. I want my brother to acknowledge me as worthy of his time. And then I want to kill him and avenge my clan." He clenched his fist. "And to do that, I will do anything. I am an avenger. Vengeance has become my only goal. Even if I die in the process, I must kill Itachi."_

_Naruto smiled slightly. "That's a problem then. My new goal is to protect everyone important to me. Which, in case you haven't noticed, includes you. I'll make you a deal. If it's not beneath the mighty Uchiha to consort with a demon, that is."_

_Sasuke smirked. "I told you already. I will do anything to kill Itachi."_

_Naruto nodded. "I'll be your backup for when you face Itachi. If anybody has to sacrifice his life to bring Itachi's to an end, let it be me. I'll help you accomplish your goal, as long as you help me keep my word to Iruka. That's my promise of a lifetime."He held his clenched fist out to Sasuke._

_Sasuke chuckled slightly. "That's a deal." He said, pressing his own fist to Naruto's._

-End Flashback-

Team 7 sat or stood in the shade at their training ground, relaxing for the exam they would be taking in an hour. Sasuke slung a long object wrapped in cloth over his left shoulder and rolled his neck lazily. "We ready to go?"

Sakura snapped closed the small medical text she had been reading and grinned. "Yes Sasuke-kun."

Naruto dropped off the branch he'd been hanging from, twisting in midair to land in a crouch. "Ready." He said simply, straightening his new clothing. He'd switched out the casual but practical gear for something more fitting to his new fighting style. With the Kyuubi's assistance, he really had no need for shuriken, so had replaced the baggy pants covered in pouches for less wind-resistant clothing with only a kunai holster on each leg. With Sasuke's help, he'd gotten rid of the cumbersome weights and replaced them with several seals that went down each pants leg. His shirt had been replaced with an open vest, allowing full range of movement while he used his earth jutsu to change the pace of battle easily. His transformation also kept the seal on his stomach constantly visible, which he felt had a psychological effect on those unfamiliar with him, since it resembled a giant tattoo.

The team began the short walk to the Academy, finding the second floor lobby swarmed with people, the doorway to a classroom blocked by two teenage boys, one of whom shoved a boy with a bowl haircut rudely to the ground.

"Hey Lee." Naruto said, helping him up.

"Naruto-kun! These two unyouthful individuals are blocking the doorway to the exam!" Lee shouted.

"Naruto, you know this weirdo?" Sakura asked, staring down at Lee with mild horror at the green spandex jumpsuit he wore and his large bushy eyebrows.

"Yeah, me and Lee pass each other on our morning runs all the time." Naruto said, dropping his voice to a whisper. "He's terrifyingly strong. Avoid him."

Sasuke entered his standard role of arrogant jackass easily, staring at the two door guards with contempt. "Drop the genjutsu and let us past." He said demandingly.

The two chuckled together, one of them nodding. "Well, at least one of you is ready for what lies beyond." He said, forming a hand sign and smiling. "Let's go, Kotetsu."

The two vanished suddenly, leaving Team 7 to start climbing up the stairs, leaving the incredulous crowd behind. Lee and his teammates caught up to them quickly, one of them staring at Sasuke with a belittling look. "Surely you realize that genjutsu was designed to weed out the hopeless? Why would you create more competition for yourself?" Neji asked, his arms crossed.

Sasuke smirked. "When I was little, I would hear stories about the Chunin exams all the time. It's a competition between teams. Why would I want the easy pickings gone?" His Sharingan flared to life briefly. "Unless the Hyuuga is afraid of the hopeless?"

"All it takes is random chance to ruin things, Uchiha." Neji said with a scowl.

Sakura suddenly noticed that Lee was staring at her intently, his expression serious. Seeing he had her attention, he flashed a thumbs up and grin at her. "You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. I am Rock Lee. I will protect you with my life!" He shouted at her.

Sakura blushed slightly, eyeing Sasuke out of the corner of her eyes. "Uh…thank you, honestly, but I already have someone I love."

Lee grew stern again. "Which of these two is it? I'll fight them for your hand."

Naruto's eyes widened, stepping between Sasuke and Lee. "Lee, do you really want to risk a fight before such an important test?"

Lee snorted. "Please, Naruto-kun. My fires of youth are unquenchable!"

Naruto nodded with a serious expression. "Of course they are. But what if fighting with a comrade gets you and your teammates expelled?"

Lee frowned. "Yosh! You are right, Naruto-kun. If your teammate is correct, and this exam has a competition, we will just have to see which of us is superior."

With that crisis averted, the two teams entered the classroom together, meeting the rest of the Konoha Rookies, Ino immediately seizing Sasuke by the arm. "Sasuke-kun!" She shouted, snuggling into him.

"What a drag." Shikamaru said immediately, sighing.

"Shikamaru." Naruto said, smiling slightly. "Still as lazy as ever, I see. I'm surprised you're even participating."

"He wasn't going to." Chouji said with a mouthful of chips. "But then he figured that hearing Ino complain about not being able to participate when everyone else was would be more of a hassle."

"Naruto! You and Sasuke haven't killed each other yet, I see." Kiba shouted, clasping hands with the blonde-haired Genin.

"Not for lack of trying." Sakura muttered, glaring at Ino.

"Team 7 is looking well." Shino said simply, pushing his glasses up.

"Yeah, we do alright." Naruto said, suddenly noticing someone standing behind Shino. "Hi Hinata. How're you today?"

The lavender-eyed girl in question blushed deeply before pushing her index fingers together in a fidgeting motion. "I-I'm v-very well, N-Naruto-kun." She opened her mouth to speak further, but cut herself off as she saw someone approaching.

"You guys must be the rookies. Not making a lot of fans, are you?" The silver haired young man asked.

"Who are you? And what the hell do you mean?" Kiba asked loudly.

"How rude of me. I'm Yakushi Kabuto, and _they're _what I mean." He said, pointing over his shoulder at the glowering foreigners. "They've been training for years before attempting this, and here're a bunch of snot-nosed punks fresh out of the Academy thinking they're equals."

Akamaru growled from atop Kiba's head. "Just who the hell do you think you are?" Kiba asked, scowling ferally.

Kabuto put his hands up in a placating gesture. "Hey, calm down. That's not how _I _feel. I actually thought I'd help you rookies out. Y'see, I've already taken this test, and I happen to have info on every ninja competing." He produced a deck of blank cards. "When I channel my chakra through these cards, the info is revealed. Is there anybody in particular you feel like reading up on?"

Sasuke frowned, casting a glance at Naruto. _Not that I don't trust his opinion, but let's just check up on that weird kid. _"Rock Lee…" He paused and smirked. "And Naruto Uzumaki of Konoha."

"Now Sasuke-kun, isn't it a little rude to check for secret info on your teammate?" Kabuto asked with a wide grin.

"I don't care. Once you've given Sasuke his info, I have someone I want looked up as well." Naruto said, crouching down.

Endnote: Once again, I must apologize for the incredibly late update. Most of you understood though. I can't make any promises for when the next chapter will be uploaded, but I can tell you it'll start midway through the first exam.

And keep any eye on my profile, because I'm going to start a poll for a later event, and as I keep hinting, I'm planning a new story pretty soon.

See you when I see you, true believers.


	8. The Forest and Beyond

A/N: I decided to skip the entirety of the first exam, since I really couldn't think of much to change from canon. But that realization brought to mind a chance to deviate from canon by a great deal in the second phase. I hope you enjoy it. All I own are the walls around me and the computer I'm writing this on. On with the show.

**XoXoXoXoX**

Chapter 8: The Forest and Beyond

The beautiful psychopath called it the Forest of Death. Sasuke thought she was beautiful because she had power and a desire to show it off, much like him. Naruto thought she was beautiful because he could see most of her body, given her choice of outfit. But they both knew she was a psychopath, because she'd come bursting into the first exam room throwing kunai before introducing herself. Naruto chuckled at the memory of the scarred examiner rolling his eyes at her antics. Unfortunately for him, his chuckle coincided with the psychopath's warning of how dangerous the forest was, and he earned a kunai to the cheek for not paying attention.

"I've met lots of brats like you before." She said, suddenly standing behind him. "The 'laugh in the face of danger' type." She licked a bit of blood off of his face. "Maybe you'll come across what's left of them out in the forest." She grinned a blood thirsty grin at him.

Naruto grinned right back. "Maybe." He said, catching her kunai from Sasuke, who had grabbed it after it had cut Naruto's cheek. "I'll let you know when we see you in the tower." He said, handing it back to her, handle first.

She took it from him, her smile widening even more. "I like you brat. I'll give you some free advice." She spun to address everyone gathered there. "Don't die."

-An Hour Later-

Sasuke and Sakura sat in a small clearing, trying to think. "We haven't come across anybody yet. That seem kind of odd to you?" Naruto asked from his position up in the branches of a nearby tree, sniffing again, still smelling nothing.

Sasuke made his usual grunt of neutrality. "Maybe. How far does your nose extend these days?"

Naruto smiled humorlessly. "A few kilometers, with the right wind. More, if I use some of the Fox's chakra." His smile widened a bit. "But if I did that, anybody near enough to smell would bolt."

Sakura cleared her throat. "Couldn't you just create a lot of Kage Bunshin, and search the whole forest?"

Naruto shook his head. "With the number of teams, a single hit clone would be destroyed by a trap. And everybody will be paranoid about anybody not part of their team."

"What about Tsuchi Bunshin?" She asked, tapping her chin as she thought.

Naruto laughed. "If you'd like all the earth within six kilometers to turn into a crater, then sure, I could do that."

Sasuke sat silently, listening to his teammates while he thought. "We have five days to get one scroll. I think we should camp out right here. Somebody will come and find us."

Naruto crouched on his branch, thinking. "If we're going to camp somewhere, I think we should move closer to the tower. The majority of people out that way will have two scrolls, so we don't have to worry about wasting time fighting someone for the wrong one, and they'll be exhausted from fighting so we can pick them off without wearing ourselves out too badly."

Sakura and Sasuke nodded. "It's a good plan, dead-last, but I'm sure you've realized the problem with it." Sasuke said, lifting his cloth-wrapped object by its tassel.

"Yeah, I noticed." Naruto agreed, cracking his knuckles.

Sakura spun, forming handsigns as she did. _Suiton: Mizurappa_. She thought, spraying a high-pressure stream of water at the woman who had snuck into their camp. The woman bent backwards, palms on the ground as she barely dodged the torrent from Sakura's lips. Naruto dove from his tree to catch her before she could right herself, forming handsigns of his own.

_Doton: Retsudo Tenshō._ He thought, landing on one outstretched hand and grinning as the earth below him was torn apart in a circular fashion. The woman was caught in the twisting rock and dirt, her cry of pain drowned out by the crunching of earth. Naruto stood with a grin. "You know, it never occurred to me that that technique is kind of fitting for me. I mean, I'm maelstrom and whirlpool, and this move makes this big circular grinder of earth."

"Yeah Naruto, very funny." Sakura said impatiently, eyeing the woman. "Did you kill her?"

Naruto looked down at her. "Nah. I figured if she doesn't have her team's scroll, we could ask her where they are. Hold on, lemme secure the prisoner." He said, four semi-formed earth clones rising from the ground on either side of her and pinning her arms and legs.

"She's from Kusagakure." Sasuke observed, pulling the sword out of its cloth-wrapped scabbard and putting the blade to her throat. "Give us your scroll." He demanded of the woman.

"She's still unconscious, bastard. Sakura, would you kindly search our guest?" Naruto asked, keeping a watch for the woman's teammates.

Sakura searched her quickly, finding a Heaven scroll after a short while and tossing it to Sasuke. After checking that Naruto still had their Earth scroll, they fled the scene, moving towards the tower.

Unnoticed by them, a pale man with long, black hair and amber, slitted eyes smiled sadistically from his hiding place in the forest. Sensing someone behind him, he spoke without turning. "Ah, Kabuto. What do you want?"

"Not that it's my place to ask, Orochimaru-sama, but weren't you intending to mark the Uchiha with your cursed seal?"

Now Orochimaru did turn. "And why would I plant something with a one in ten survival chance on one of the few wielders of the Sharingan?" He asked with a tone of annoyance. Kabuto sputtered a little, before apologizing to his master. Orochimaru laughed softly. "I'm only teasing, Kabuto-kun. I do intend to mark the boy, but only until I am _certain _that he will survive." He paused, considering something while he watched the woman's teammates arrive to help her. "His teammates interest me as well. I would like you to fight in the third exam, learn a little more about their abilities. If nothing else, the Kyuubi brat's purported regeneration will make him a good guinea pig." Orochimaru bit his thumb, sliding the blood through the tattoo on his other arm. "Speaking of rodents…" He said, slamming his hand on the ground. "Dinner is served." He said coldly to the giant snake, which slithered forward to devour the team from Kusa.

XoXoXoX

Nearing the tower, Team 7 came across an unexpected sight in the form of Team 8. "You already got another scroll?" Naruto and Kiba said to each other at the same time, disbelief in both of their voices.

"We happened across a group of foreign ninja who were ill-prepared for the insect life of the forest." Shino said with his usual mechanical tone as he adjusted his glasses. "And yourselves?" He asked with the same seeming disinterest.

"We got lucky too." Sasuke said simply.

_Look alive, brat. _The Kyuubi said suddenly, making Naruto glance around. Sure enough, the team from Suna had just emerged from the bushes.

"Gaara." Naruto said, hands moving to the silver studs on his pants.

Team 8 had all frozen in place at the sight of the Suna team. "You do _not _want to fight that guy, Naruto." Kiba breathed out of the corner of his mouth. "Total psycho, even his teammates are terrified of him."

"Uzumaki Naruto." Gaara said, arms dropping to his side and a smile forming on his face. "I had hoped to run into you out here."

"Gaara, we already have both scrolls…" His blonde teammate began, moving between Gaara and Naruto.

"Out of the way Temari. I'll go through you if I have to." Gaara said, staring past her.

"Gaara, listen to your sister." His other teammate said, inching away from her all the same.

"I told you already Kankuro. I don't think of either you as my siblings. I'll kill you both if you don't let me fight Uzumaki."

Naruto turned to Team 8. "You guys go on ahead to the tower." They nodded and fled the scene. Naruto glanced to either side at his teammates. "Will you two keep his teammates occupied?"

"I've got blondie." Sakura said in response, tying her hair into a high roll.

"I suppose I can play with the freak in the makeup while you deal with the kid." Sasuke said, spinning his sheathed sword by the tassel.

Temari eyed Team 7 warily. "Listen Gaara, if we get killed or critically injured out here, you'll get disqualified, and the whole trip will have been worthless."

"If I can kill Uzumaki, it won't have been a waste. Out of my way."

Naruto hesitated for a second. "I'll tell you what, Gaara. The next round is supposedly a tournament. If you're lucky enough to make it through the forest without a scratch, you can probably win enough matches to fight me. Can you hold off our fight until then?"

Gaara's eyes hardened, then relaxed into his usual bored looking expression. "Fine. If you get beaten before we meet in the tournament, then you aren't worth my time anyway." He said finally, walking past Team 7 with an air of dismissal. The rest of the Suna team followed, Kankuro shooting daggers at Sasuke as he passed.

"It's not makeup. It's war-paint." He said with contempt in his voice.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night." Sasuke said, covering his sword again and smirking.

Sakura sighed in relief as soon as they were out of earshot. "To the tower then?"

Sasuke and Naruto nodded, walking off.

-Five Days Later-

Team 10 entered the tower, winded and covered in dirt and scratches. Shikamaru immediately collapsed against the wall, not looking up as Naruto joined him. "Took you guys quite a long time to join us." Naruto said casually, smiling as Ino looked around immediately for Sasuke, who had decided that hiding would spare him a headache.

"We had a troublesome time with a team from Ame. They kept using illusions, made it a drag to catch them with my jutsu. Chouji got tired of waiting and flattened them all." Shikamaru said with a sigh. "How long has Team 7 been here?"

"We got in after only an hour out in the forest. Tricked a Kusa Kunoichi by lying about my nose."

Shikamaru stared at Naruto for a second before shrugging. "So I guess you had five days to relax? I'd be jealous, if that weren't such a hassle."

Kiba walked over laughing. "Relax? Naruto has been working out, Sakura's been reading, and Sasuke wouldn't let us see what he was doing." He scratched the back of his head. "I'm actually kind of embarrassed. We didn't really do anything."

All the Genin looked around at the sudden sound of coughing, noticing a sickly-looking Jonin who had appeared in their midst. "Greetings. My name is Gekkō Hayate. Congratulations to all of you on passing the second exam. You're all truly skilled." He paused to cough into his fist. "Unfortunately, there're too many of you. So before we start the third exam, we're gonna have preliminaries. But before we do _that_, would any of the twenty-one hopefuls like to withdraw and try again in six months?" He looked around expectantly, then heaved out a sigh that degraded into coughing when no one raised their hands. "Very well. The screen behind me will randomly pair you together. The odd man out will get a buy."

The Genin all looked with interest at the large monitor behind the proctor as twenty one names flew across the screen.

**Abumi Zaku**

**Vs.**

**Uzumaki Naruto**

"Ha! I'm up first." A boy with spiky black hair shouted.

"Well that cuts the suspense a bit." Naruto said with a grin, cracking his knuckles.

"Very well, everyone else, kindly move up to the viewing deck." The proctor said, gesturing towards the stairs behind him. The other Genin moved obediently up the stairs as Naruto began hopping from foot to foot, warming himself up.

"So what's your gimmick?" Naruto asked as he popped his back.

"Wouldn't you like to know." Zaku answered with a smirk, dropping into a stance.

"Begin!" The sickly proctor shouted, signaling the start with a downward chop.

Zaku immediately brought a hand up, his palm pointed at Naruto. "Zankūha!" He shouted, a blast of sound flying from his palm towards Naruto.

Naruto winced as it collided with him; the force of the blow pushing him back a few feet. He shook his head and let out a low whistle. "Nice trick. An attack that moves at the speed of sound with all the force of a cannon." He bit his thumbs, dragging them down the metal studs on his pants. "I'm gonna have to drop some weight to outmaneuver it."

His opponent laughed derisively. "You expect me to believe you can outrun sound?"

Naruto smiled cheerfully. "Well, strictly speaking, I don't have to outrun sound. I just have to move faster than you can aim your arms." He blurred into movement, moving to the left to circle behind his black haired opponent.

"You think you're the first person to figure out I can't move my arms to behind me?" Zaku barked, firing a blast off to his side and slamming Naruto into the wall.

Naruto spat blood off to the side and grinned. "I'm surprised to see you're better than I thought. Usually someone with a neat trick hasn't done anything but focus on making it tougher, they don't look at weaknesses it might have."

Zaku smirked. "Thanks for the compliment. From how you've moved so far, I'm guessing you're a close-range fighter. Bad luck coming against me, wasn't it?"

Naruto shrugged. "I don't know about that. Earlier, you were so focused on aiming where I was going to be, you didn't actually see what I was doing." He said, a glint in his eye as two earth clones burst from behind Zaku, one tripping him, the other pointing his arms at his own chest. "One of the key points of being a close-range fighter is figuring out how to get close." Naruto finished with a grin, walking closer in case his opponent wasn't done yet.

"I guess you think you've beaten me?" Zaku snarled, a glint in his eye.

"Unless you're going to fire a cannon blast into your own chest, yeah, I do."

Zaku opened his mouth, apparently about to do just that, when the sickly proctor knocked him out with a kick to the head. "Abumi Zaku is no longer able to continue, the winner: Uzumaki Naruto."

"That isn't fair! The match wasn't over yet!" Zaku's female teammate shouted from the viewing deck.

Hayate coughed dismissively. "There was no point in letting him do potentially lethal damage to his own organs. Uzumaki had already demonstrated he knew how to get past his technique, killing himself wouldn't have changed the result."

Naruto snorted with laughter and climbed the stairs to congratulations from most of the Konoha Genin, most of whom seemed surprised at his casual usage of Tsuchi Bunshin, when the standard clone technique had been his worst in the Academy.

"Nice to see you won dead-last." Sasuke said from where he leaned against the wall. "I'd hate to know our squad was the first defeat in this tournament."

"Well bastard, you do your best to win your match too. I'd hate for the dead-last to be better than the Top Rookie. Think of the scandal it'd be."

Hayate coughed again, getting everyone to pay attention. "The second match is about to be selected." He said in his raspy voice.

**Yakushi Kabuto**

**Vs**

**Hyuuga Neji**

"Isn't Kabuto the one who's taken this test six times already?" Sakura asked, eyeing the silver-haired boy appraisingly.

"Yosh! He has no chance against my eternal-rival, Neji!" Lee shouted, throwing a fist up in the air.

"You haven't even seen me fight and you're so sure? My opponent sounds like a scary guy." Kabuto said with a near whine, pulling off his glasses and folding them closed. He turned to Naruto. "Mind keeping these safe for me? If this guy's as bad as his teammate claims, I'll be better off without them on."

Naruto took them without comment, staring down at Neji, who stood with an angry look on his face. "Hey Sasuke, is it a requirement for the number one rookie of each year to be a pissed off looking girly boy, or is that just a coincidence?"

Sasuke jerked his head towards Lee. "Is it a requirement for the dead-last to be a loudmouth with no fashion sense, or is _that _just a coincidence?"

"If you two are done trading witty banter, you may want to watch this." Sakura said, her tone one of awe.

Naruto and Sasuke both had to double take at what they saw. Neji was using palm strikes and flowing like water in the Hyuuga Gentle Fist style, as they had expected. The surprising thing was his opponent, who was able to not only dodge the majority of the blows, but had managed to score a few good blows to Neji's side.

"Would you like to surrender, Hyuuga-san?" Kabuto asked with a smile, keeping his stance.

"Don't get full of yourself. You're more impressive than I'd thought, but it is not your fate to defeat me." Neji said stoically.

Kabuto's expression hardened. "I know your eyes see a lot, Neji-kun, but don't expect me to believe you can see the future." He lunged forward, his hand glowing with a blue light.

Neji swatted the hand away, moving to land another jab of Jyuuken, when he suddenly winced in pain. _'Something is wrong with my arm.'_ He thought, staring at the arm he'd just used to block the blow. "What did you do to me?"

"I'm sorry Neji-kun, but that's not your fate to know." He said, landing two strikes to each of Neji's legs with blinding speed. Neji swayed drunkenly before falling to the ground. He struggled for a bit then sighed.

"I'm unable to stand." He said simply.

Hayate coughed and blinked in surprise. "The winner is Yakushi Kabuto."

Kabuto returned to the viewing deck, accepting his glasses from Naruto with a soft 'thank you'.

"What _did _you do to him, Kabuto?" Naruto asked, staring at the man with respect. Sakura was silent, but looking from the downed Neji to Kabuto with an analytical expression.

"Maybe if you fight me in the next round you'll find out Naruto-kun." Kabuto said, walking away with a smile.

"_I _know what that was." Sakura said in a low whisper. "It was a chakra scalpel, an offensive application of the techniques medics use." She watched Kabuto slump against the wall over by his teammates. "It'd be wise to avoid him."

The next match was between Lee and Shino. The bug user started out well, using bug clones to avoid Lee's strikes. However, with Lee not dependent on chakra, the main facet of Shino's strategy was useless against him. Eventually, Lee was able to land a powerful blow and Shino decided to withdraw to avoid any further injury. Naruto and Sasuke exchanged a glance of shared amusement. The previous year's dead-last had done better than their top rookie.

**XoXoXoXoX**

**Endnote: **Probably an awkward place to end the chapter, but I was just digging a hole with it and decided you'd waited long enough anyway. Once again, I can't promise a quick update, what with my daily night shift at work, hanging out with my girlfriend during the day, and working on a non-fan-fic related project with a friend of mine. But I'll see what I can do. See you next time, true believers.


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